Two Hearts one Soul
by Thecivillian
Summary: After moving away from Arcadia Bay, It takes Max a few weeks to realize her feelings for her childhood best friend, Defying her mom Max attempts a trip to go and see her, Only it takes a little longer than she expects, Meanwhile Chloe is made to regret her final farewell to Max when the unthinkable happens, Max goes missing. Pricefield
1. Chapter 1

Two hearts one soul

Hey readers, I know I promised more 'Playing for keeps' And I will be returning to it, just right now I have a weird block, This story has been knocking around in my head and I can't concentrate on 'Playing for keeps', So I guess I'm getting this one out first.

Fair warning it's a little dark (Though not as dark as I could go...but use your imagination a little I guess) This is an AU, no time travel no hurricane. I had this idea (Or rather the skeleton of it) bouncing around and after reading one of rowanred81 here on , I finally decided to write it, Her work is GREAT, so much better than mine. I guess it would be fair to say I have borrowed one or two elements, (Saying that most of us writers have borrowed most of the LIS game so..meh I guess) Not my intention to copy and while there is a little familiarity I'm hoping its on the right side.

Anyways here it is, It's about half done in total, I did a little experimenting with time skips (five years worth of stuff to write might a long story make, but not interesting when its just same day to day stuff over and over)

So lemme know what ya think (Don't judge me too harshly)

Ps I did reach out to rowanred81, To ask her opinion before I posted it up, But she has an awful lot on her plate as it is, But I did offer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Escape**

 **March 2008**

" _I have to see her_ " Max thought as she finished picking the lock to her bedroom window with a pair of hair pins, She had been practicing for the last few weeks after her last failed attempt to get back Arcadia bay, back home, back to her Chloe. The girl took one last look at her room in the dead of night, Her alarm clock reading 01:25 am as a dim glow from the nearby street lamp illuminated her surroundings, Grabbing her duffel bag she stuffed it out the window letting it fall into the flower bed outside, she swung her legs over the ledge, turning so her stomach was on the sill she slowly lowered herself down searching with her feet for the ground, Feeling the small bushes with her feet she figured it was only a short drop to the ground and let herself fall, The impact on the ground caused her to stumble backwards falling on her backside in the damp grass, " _ugh, That's all I need a wet ass for my long ass trip_ ," she thought to herself grinning as she got up brushing herself off and hoisted her duffle bag onto her shoulders making her way down the street.

It had taken Max less than an hour to find the main highway leading out of Seattle back towards Arcadia. Walking along the highway on the grass verge her trainers long soaked by the mildew of the damp grass, Max humoured herself at her daring escape and at how much further she had gotten since her last attempt, Last time the young girl had only made it to the bus depot to find her father waiting for her, The following conversation had been less than pleasant, " _She need's me dad, And I need her_ ," the young girl had screamed at her father as tears ran down her red blotchy face upon entering their home on the outskirts of Seattle, " _Max, I know how you feel, But_..." Ryan attempted to console, only to get shouted down by the emotional 13-year-old, " _ **You don't know how I feel, I...I feel like there's part of me missing**_ ,". Her mom scoffing at the remark, Max had glared at her, her despair turning into a rage she hadn't felt before, " _Anyone would think you had a crush.."_ her mother snapped before cutting herself short and staring at her daughter, Max felt all her anger drain, her cheeks began to burn as her mother's words and realization struck her, In that moment she felt something click inside her, "I like...really like Chloe..wowzers," she muttered to herself, Her mother scoffed again at this remark, " _We shoulda moved sooner_ ," the ensuing argument had resulted in Max barricading herself in her room while her mother screamed at her father as she curled up in her bed crying herself to sleep.

Max found herself under constant supervision over the next month, Her phone confiscated by her mother, escorted to and fro class and pretty much confined to her room, She felt like a prisoner in her own home, Her father had gone to stay with his brother on the other side of Seattle, However Max just became more determined the more her mother policed her, Spending her time practicing picking the window locks, Slowly packing her duffle bag over the weeks and using the school library to figure out how long it would take to walk back to Arcadia, until making her escape that night. trudging through the grass verge Max was looking at the last picture of her and Chloe at their last Halloween both dressed as pirates with a giddy grin, She couldn't help but let out a giggle as she let the realization of her feelings warm her from the inside out, Folding the picture she placed it in her back pocket while happily muttering " _I'm coming Chlo_ ,"

 **THWAMP**

Max found herself face down in the dirt, The back of her head pounding as the force of the blow sent her to ground, before she could react Max felt a firm hand on her shoulder and a sharp pinch in her neck as everything went dark, " _Chlo,"_


	3. Chapter 3

**In the deep end**

Loud cheering and yelling from a large crowd, Max felt herself getting pushed along as she stumbled trying to keep her balance as whatever it was running in her system began to clear, Trying to look around she couldn't see anything as she realized she had a cloth bag over her head, reaching up to remove it she felt a pair of hands forcing her arms back down, Her head was pounding as the cheering and yelling grew louder with each step, Her heart pounded in her chest and her mind raced at an alarming rate as fear began to take over, " _ **Lemme go, where am I,**_ _"_ she shouted as she felt pushing hands hurrying her along, trying to back peddle, " _ **LEMME GO I WANNA GO HOME**_ ," she screamed in alarm as her fear quickly turned to terror feeling a final smack across her back as she fell forwards putting her hands out as she crashed onto a dusty floor the crowd cheering louder.

Scrambling to upright herself Max tugged the musty bag off her head, dropping it as she stumbled to her feet, she raised a hand shield her eyes as a wall of floodlights blinded her, As her eyes adjusted to the harsh light, still groggy from the drug in her system, she had just enough time to register a stocky man wearing what looked like a black suit walking up to her at a quick pace with his arm raised, the next few moments were a blur for the young girl, fueled by fear and adrenaline as she scrambled out of the way as the first and second fist bearly missed her, each time earning a mix of jeering and booing from the crowd, throwing herself out of the way of another strike, the impact of the ground kicked up a cloud of dust stinging her eyes, blinking repeatedly she scrambled to her feet only to feel a fist connect with her face.

She felt the impact on her face, The pain shot through her skull like fire as she felt herself fall backwards onto the dusty floor, her vision blurred with blood as she tried to scramble away from her assailant, she felt a boot hit her stomach knocking the wind out of her, Gasping for breath she staggered to her feet her arm outstretched only to feel a tight grip on her wrist as she was yanked forwards and another fist crashed into her gut making it painful to even breath as she slumped to the floor. Trying to protect herself she curled into a ball as she felt another kick hit her arm protecting her face, feeling a boot crashing down on her side only one thought became apparent to her, " _I'm going to die_ ," She tried to scream, to plead, But the pain overrode everything as it drowned out the crowds cheering and yelling her last thought that flashed across her mind was her brunette haired friend's smile fading into darkness, " _Chloe...help me,_ ".

Max woke with a start sitting bolt upright, and instantly regretted it as dull pain shot across her stomach as she let out an audible wince " _fuck_ ," Attempting to move her arm to her stomach she looked down to find it restricted by a sling, Her arm wrapped in spots tape from her hand up to her elbow, Lifting her top to examine her stomach her eyes widened at the sight of several large purple bruises as reality hit her, " _It...was'nt a dream_ ," she muttered as she began sobbing laying back down curling herself on her side wincing, " _I wanna go home_ ,".

" _Look, Rach, You know how this works, She gets a month then they throw her to the wolves again,...I know you care, I just don't want to see a repeat of Tony_ ," The voice came hushed but full of worry, Max could hear footsteps approaching, Her first instinct was to hide, propping herself up and taking a quick look around revealed a small square room, Two sleeping bags on the other side of the room side by side, the doorway had what looked like an old bedsheet covering it, the hinges of the door sticking out of the doorframe, The door itself missing, A dim light from what looked like a hallway filtered through the cracks at the side and along the bottom of the sheet, A few tea light candles scattered around the edge of the room illuminating some crude graffiti on the walls, A digital wall clock told her it was 05:22 am, She also spotted her hoodie neatly folded up next to her, " _Odd_ " she thought given the circumstances.

Max's attention was turned back to the doorway as the silhouette of two figures stood in the doorway, Max felt her heart rate double as she pulled the blanket up to her chin she felt herself begin to shake as she let out a whimper. She watched as one of the shadows put there hand up to the other, " _Diana, I think she's awake, Look let me do the talking please, you can come over a little...harsh, She's gonna be terrified as it is_ ," The other girl said in a caring voice, Max watched as the hand pulled back the sheet in the doorway to see a soft face, Shoulder length blond hair and hazel eyes looked upon Max with a pain apologetic look, her figure was slim wearing a black sports bra, red checkered flannel shirt, and knee-length black jeans " _Hi,...My names Rachel, But please call me Rach, How you feeling_ ," The blond said gently as she made her way cautiously across the room and knelt down next to Max, Max pulled herself back as Rach reached over to her bandaged arm, " _hey hey, It's ok, I won't hurt you, I promise,_ " the blonde said softly keeping her hand extended allowing Max to close the small distance between them, Max felt put at ease by the blond's words as she let herself relax a little and shakily offered the blond her injured arm. " _What's your name_?" Rachel asked softly, Max looked at Rachel and then towards the door, " _Oh that's my friend Diana, D you can come in, I think she might be a little tougher than you give her credit for_ ," Rachel said answering Max's unspoken question with a smile. A short haired spiky redhead entered the room with a slightly annoyed look on her face, Like Rachel she too was donning a black sports bra a red checkered flannel shirt and knee length black jeans. " _You're FRIEND,_ " she stated in a clipped tone. Max watched as the blonde rolled her eyes, " _you know what I mean D, trying not to embarrass the poor girl, But ok then GIRLFRIEND_ ," the blonde replied finishing in a pointed tone with a smile.

Max felt herself blush as she let out a small giggle, " _Well that's a good sign, we made her laugh_ ," Diana said with a smile as she knelt down next to Rachel. It took Max a minute before she realized she was staring and that the two girls in front of her who were looking at her expectantly, giving her head a little shake she remembered she was asked something, " _er..Max, my name's Max_ ," she replied as she clenched her good hand into a fist to try and stop herself from shaking, Rachel smiled as she gently raised Max's injured arm and carefully removed it from the sling, " _I guess that's short for Maxine, Can you make a fist_ ," she asked maintaining a soft tone. Max made a disgruntled face shaking her head as she clenched her fist wincing a little at the discomfort, " _Never Maxine_ ," she replied meekly giving her hand and wrist experimental movements, " _Doesn't hurt too badly, Just feels stiff_ ," she thought to herself.

" _Duley noted, Can you bend your arm for me_ ," Rachel asked again keeping her soft tone, Again Max responded, flexing her arm and moving her shoulder letting out a sharp wince, " _Feel's sore, but I guess I've felt worse_ ," she muttered as Rachel put her arm back in the sling carefully, " _Well I'm fairly sure nothing got broken at least_ ," she said bringing her hand up to Max's face to tuck part of her hair behind her ear, " _That eye of yours doesn't look too bad either considering_ ," she continued turning round to grab a paper plate with a sandwich, a pink and a white pill and a red plastic cup of water and offering it to Max.

Max looked at the offering and then back to the two girls with a frown, " _It's ok Max, It's not exactly fine cuisine, It's only a meat paste sandwich but it's better than going hungry, And those_ ," Rach said as she gave the plate a slight tilt causing the two pills to roll slightly, " _One's a normal painkiller and the other is just an anti-inflammatory, To help with the swelling_ ," she finished answering Max's unspoken question. Taking the sandwich Max took a bite of the slightly stale bread, making a slight grimace she looked back up at the two girls and swallowed, "Where..what is this place," she asked before taking another bite.

Max watched as the two girls looked at each other with pained expressions and turned back to face Max sighing, " _Eat that and take those_ ," Rachel said pointing at the two pills, " _And get some sleep, I'll explain everything after you've had some sleep ok,...down here you're safe, so try and relax and get some sleep_ ," she finished gently rubbing Max on her shoulder with a soft smile, Despite her words and gentleness Max could see a sadness behind both girls eyes, A dark feeling crept over the young girl as a shiver ran down her spine as she looked at her half eaten sandwich, her appetite suddenly lost, " _It...It's not good is it_ ," she muttered in a gentle sob as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. It took her a moment to notice but both girls were either side of her, each having an arm wrapped around her hugging her, Max allowed herself to lean into the more talkative blonde as she let herself gently sob.

Max felt the blonde take a deep breath before letting out a drawn out sigh, " _I guess...It could be a lot worse, besides being dead, but no...It's not good_ ," Rachel muttered as she consoled the young girl. " _Max_ ," she felt Diana and Rachel tense up as Diana spoke slowly, Looking up towards the red head she saw that Diana was looking over her at Rachel with a stern expression before she look back down at her with a pained smile, " _This might sound scary but_ ," " _D_ ," Rachel interrupted the redhead only for Diana to raise her free hand up silencing Rachel, " _I know what you're going to say Rach, But if she expects the worst,...Hopefully, the reality won't be as much of a shock_ ," as she spoke the redhead placed her free hand on Max's good hand giving it a gentle squeeze and sighed, " _I'm saying this not to scare you, Max,...It will, but that's not my intention, It's just that this place will really fuck with your head if you let it, So in order to keep you,...well you_ ," she said softly shrugging at the end not taking her apologetic look off of her, " _I want you to imagine the absolute worst, The most terrifying thing you can imagine,...Besides being dead of course, depending on how dark you go, The truth should be...bearable at le_ ast," she finished with an apologetic smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**Trapped**

Max woke with a start, Her body feeling clammy from sweat, Sitting up a dull ache reminded her of the unpleasant beating the night before. The floor felt cold on her bare feet as she stood up giving herself an array of small stretches to ascertain how bad it felt, she found she had most of her movement say for her arm, which while not immobile still felt stiff and restricted, She Picked up her hoodie and with some difficulty she managed to get it on, Opting to leave her injured arm under the hoodie and unable to locate her trainers anywhere she took a better look around the room she had slept in.

'Think happy thought's' was scrawled on the wall in red spraypaint, Along with several other messages of profanity that made the young girl blush, The clock on the wall displayed 13:46 pm, Max let out an amused humph, "Least here I'm allowed to sleep," she thought to herself, Looking around stopping at the two sleeping bags side by side it was obvious someone had recently slept in them, "Rachel and Diana," she thought to herself, as she continued to look around there wasn't much else say for a round shiny surface which was fixed to the wall near the doorway at head height, Moving closer Max saw a reflection of herself in the shiny surface that made her groan, her left eye had a deep black bruise around it with a small plaster on her cheekbone, accompanied by a slightly swollen split lip, she gave the black bruise on her cheek a gentle poke wincing slightly at the tenderness, " _Can't say it's my first black eye,_ " she thought shrugging as she cast her mind back to when her mom caught her trying to run away just after moving to Seattle.

Approaching the doorway she could hear chattering voices and a few laughs coming from down the hall, Poking her head around the corner and looking down one side of the hallway she could see several rooms, none of which had doors and a large room at the end that was in darkness, Looking the other way towards the voices, she saw a few more rooms with missing doors the last two both had doors, The corridor was plain white with a tiled black floor throughout, LED spot lights along the ceiling illuminated the place with various scribbles and graffiti along the walls, The room at the end where the voices came from was lit up with what looked like plastic garden furniture, Max noticed a dark haired girl with her hair in a ponytail wearing clothing similar to Rachel and Diana just without the flannel shirt looking down the hall at her before she turned to someone she couldn't see saying something and pointing down the hall to her, Max tucked herself behind doorframe peeking up the corridor as the voices from the room went quiet as she heard a pair of feet slapping against the tiled floor.

" _Max_?" Rachels' voice came down the hall accompanied by the sound of feet slapping against the floor as the blonde girl came running into view, Max felt herself give a relieved sigh at the sound of a familiar voice, Stepping out in the hallway she watched as the blonde jogged towards her stopping just a few feet away from her with a welcoming smile, " _How ya sleep_ ," Max gave a nod, " _Ok I guess_ ," Max replied trying to sound less scared than she actually felt as she looked up and down the hallway. Max felt the blonde take her good hand in her's _"I know it's a little scary, But down here you have nothing to worry about, Not from us lot anyway, common I'll show you around before we get to the bullshit_ ," Rachel said gently tugging Max back along the way she just came stopping next to the two doors at the end, " _Actually first thing's first, That's the bathroom, and that's the shower room, You get yourself sorted and I'll come back with some clean clothes for you, And don't worry no one's gonna bother you, Except maybe D_ ," Rachel said smiling as she gave Max a gentle nudge towards the bathroom before disappearing back into the big room at the end of the hall.

After using the bathroom Max crossed the hall into the shower room and shut the door behind her, The room was no bigger than the one she slept in, Two showers one either side with a flimsy shower curtain for each, A wooden bench bolted to the floor along the wall of the door, along with a pair of small metal washbasins that hung on the wall at the far end, each with their own round metallic mirror, The room had white tiles floor to ceiling with two small spot lamps in the ceiling, lighting up most of the room, " _This is kinda what I imagine a prison feels like_ ," she thought to herself as she crossed the room to a shower stall wriggling out of her hoodie, she set about taking her sling off and carefully undoing the sports tape on her arm, she inspected the dark blue and black bruising around her wrist and on the back of her arm, It made her arm look something alien to her, a shiver running through her as a flash of the reminder played across her mind, Shaking the image from her mind she finished stripping off and turned the water on and waited for it to heat up, After a minute she realized that there was no hot water and sighed, " _Guess they don't want me to spend forever in the shower_ ," she mumbled jumping in and shivering as she shock of the cold water hit her, Grabbing the small sliver of soap in the dish she set about washing herself off.

" _Max you in here_ " Rachels' voice came from the doorway as the door opened, Max was halfway out of the shower reaching for her clothes and quickly scrambled back behind the shower curtain only to hear Rachel let out a small giggle, " _It's ok Max, I don't bite, besides I've seen it all before, privacy is something we don't have a lot of down here_ ," Rachel said cheerily as Max watched the Blonde place a small pile of clothes on the bench next to hers and then walk over to her holding out a towel. Taking the offering Max wrapped it around herself as she stepped out from behind the shower curtain drying herself off wincing occasionally as she tried to use her arm, or brushed over the bruising on her stomach. Rachel took a step forwards taking part of the towel in her hand looking at Max with a sorry expression, " _Here lemme help_ ," she said softly, Max nodded gingerly as she let the blonde take the towel and felt herself blush slightly as she went to work patting down the harder to reach areas for her, Stopping occasionally to inspect the bruising on Max's stomach and side, " _You're tougher than ya look ya know_ ," Rachel said with an appraising tone as she started drying Max's hair, All Max could do was let out a satisfied moan as the blonde worked on her hair causing Rachel to let out a giggle again, " _Have you never had this done before_?" she asked, Max shook her head, " _Well I guess that's foster homes for ya_ ," Rachel continued giving a shrug as she continued.

Max turned to face Rachel with a puzzled look, " _I'm not an orphan Rach_ ," Max said as she watched Rachels face fall and her mouth slack, her expression turning pained and apologetic as a tear rolled down her cheek, Max felt a feeling of dread wash over her, as everything shattered around her, Her dreams, her family, her friends, Chloe, everything suddenly seemed impossibly far away as something clicked inside her, a realization of her situation, her legs gave out from under her as she felt Rachel catch her before she collapsed and walk her to the bench and sat her down, " _I...I'm never getting out of here...am I_ ," she sobbed looking at the floor as she began to shake. She felt Rachel wrap the towel around her and pull her into a hug gently rocking her, " _I'm so, so sorry Max, so sorry_ ," Rachel replied joining in the young girl's sobs.

Sitting on the bench still shaking, Max clenched her fists ignoring the protests of her injured hand, Her breathing increased as she felt her blood start to boil, her anguish flipped into a building rage, " _ **All I wanted,...All I fucking wanted was to see Chloe**_ ," she screamed as she flung herself across the shower room punching the metal mirror putting her whole body into the blow with her bad hand, A screaming pain shot up her arm only adding fuel to the torrent inside her, " _ **I..just..wanted..to..see...Chloe**_ ," each word following as her fists took it in turns pounding the sheet of metal leaving bloody smears and small dents behind, Each blow sent a pain shooting up her arms as her knuckles split open against the metal surface, But the pain just fueled her further, all she could see was her mother scoffing at her about her feelings for Chloe, Feeling someone behind her trying to restrain her, she shoved them off turning on her heel punching them in the jaw sending them to the floor, " _ **It's all your fault mom, I fucking hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you**_ ," she screamed jumping on the person she had just knocked down punching repeatedly with each word.

She felt a pair of strong arms envelope her in a hug, pulling her down as she tried to continue her assault, " _shhh, It's ok, It's ok Max_ ," That voice, that calming reassuring voice drained her rage as quickly as it had built as she let herself collapse on top of the person she had just wailed on and let herself sob as the pain in her hands began to register, " _It's not fair,..I never wanted this,_ " she sobbed. " _ **What the hell is going...on**_ " Diana shouted as Max heard her burst into the shower room with several other girls behind her, " _ **What the fuck**_ ," she shouted as she started to move towards the two girls on the floor only to be stopped by Rachel raising her hand, " _It's ok D, I'm ok, Look can you get rid of that lot_ ," Rachel said signaling towards the crowd of girls muttering in the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Regret's**

Max was bearly aware that she had been carried back to her room and put on her sleeping bag, Until she felt a stinging on one of her hands, " _Fuck_ ," she winced pulling her hand away only to realize that Diana was knelt down next to her with a cloth in hand and bowl of water next to her, " _Sorry I know it stings, But we need to get you cleaned up_ ," Diana said her voice sounding sorry but the tone was clipped, As she took Max's hand and gently began cleaning off the dried blood. Max winced again but didn't pull away this time as she looked up at Diana, She was concentrating but she looked angry, "Where's Rach," Max asked as she winced again as the redhead continued cleaning her hand, " _she's cleaning up your mess_ ," Diana replied flatly, Max frowned for a moment as the shower room scene replayed in her mind, " _Shit I need to apologise_ ," she muttered as she went to get up only to be forced back down by Diana, " _Sit, you can apologise AFTER I sort out this mess_ " Diana snapped gesturing to Max's hands. Max looked down at her hands, covered in blood, she could see the whites of her knuckles showing through her skin as a sick feeling started to rise inside her, " _Hey don't look at it_ ," Diana said lifting Max's chin up, Taking a deep breath Max forced the sick feeling back down, " _Is Rachel ok_ ," Max muttered looking towards the door, " _Ugg, Sorry Max, I know I shouldn't be but I'm kinda pissed at you, heh, I'm also kinda surprised and impressed at the same time_ , _But yeah, Rachel's ok, Not the first time she's had a fat lip_ " Diana said with a little bit of a chuckle.

Max looked at her feeling a little confused, " _Diana I'm sorry I shouldn't have_ ,.." Diana raised her hand to silence Max and sighed, " _It's not your fault Max, I kinda expected you to withdraw when you found out_ ," Daina said shrugging, " _Sorry you just looked the type, heh, If I had known you'd snap out of it this fast we woulda told you in the training room, Loads there for you to wail on and not bust ya self up like this_ ," she finished indicating Max's hands again. The two girls sat for the next twenty minutes in relative silence, the only sounds came from down the hall, light thudding and occasional shouting, and the odd wince from Max as Diana finished cleaning up her hands and strapping them up firmly with sports tape, " _All done, There probably gonna take about a week before you can use em properly_ ," Diana said sighing as she got up, " _Hungry_?" she asked, Max nodded as she went to get up only to realize she was naked under the blanket, pulling the blanket back up to cover herself she blushed, Diana let out a laugh and pointed to a pile of clothes next to Max, " _You can wear those_ ," she said, Max reached over to pull the pile of clothes onto her lap as she inspected them and looked up at Diana, " _Where's my clothes_ ," she asked, Diana looked at her for a moment as she thought, " _Should be still in the shower room, I was gonna take em to get cleaned for ya_ ," she replied, " _um,..Can you check the back pocket please there should be a picture in there_ ," Max asked as she tried to get her underwear on under the blanket wincing several times as she brushed her knuckles against the blanket. Diana let out a small sigh, " _I'll have a look, But they usually take everything off you accept what ya wearing, But they might have missed it, they did kinda balls you up_ ," Daina said with a chuckle, Max looked up at her frowning, " _Hmm usually when they bring in someone new they give you a few days before throwing you to the wolves, For better or worse they threw you in the deep end_ ," she finished as she walked out of the room with bowl of bloodied water leaving Max to get dressed.

After a few minutes Max had managed to get the jeans and shirt on, opting to leave the sports bra off as she found it difficult to get it on due to her hands, Black knee length jeans and a red flannel shirt done up all the way say for the last two buttons, She made her way out of the room and down the hall, passing the shower room she could make out voices coming from the other side, " _I didn't think you tell her already_ ," Max heard Diana say sounding a little angry, " _I didn't tell her,..I just..jumped to the wrong conclusion, She's not an orphan D_ ," Rachel replied sounding upset, " _shit_ ," Diana muttered her tone shifting to one of sympathy. Max gave the door a few bangs with the side of her hand wincing slightly before opening the door and poking her head around to see Rachel sat on the bench with Diana standing over her dabbing a cloth around Rachels face cleaning off some dried blood.

Max stood in the doorway as guilt and regret washed over her at the sight of Rachel, her face covered in blood, a swollen lip, and a fresh bruise starting to show on her cheekbone, Max let a tear roll down her cheek as her lip started to tremble, feeling like she was going to fall over she braced herself against the door, " _I'm...sorry...I shouldn't have_ ," she began to blub as Diana stopped what she was doing and walked over to her wrapping am arm around her waist and walked her to the bench sitting her down, "I don't blame you, Max, besides it not as bad as it looks, most of the blood is yours," Rachel said caringly as she used the cloth to scrub her face clean before turning to Max with a grin, "I've had worse,".

"I'm sorry for being short with you earlier Max, I..I'm just a little protective that's all," Diana said with a shrug as she continued to hug the young girl, Rachel let out a chuckle, "A little," she scoffed with a raised eyebrow, "Uh, are you ever going to let that go, Rach," Diana said suddenly looking a little embarrassed, Max looked at both girls, in turn, feeling a little confused but intrigued, "D here broke a guard's hand for me," Rachel chuckled, Diana sighed, "I like how you left out he tried to cop a feel of you before hand, he deserved it," Diana replied defensively folding her arms, Rachel grinned, "It was sweet, scary, but sweet," Rachel replied causing the redhead to blush. "Like you wouldn't have done the same," Diana retorted with a smile, Rachel just shrugged as she gave her fat lip a suck. "Oh, I almost forgot, I believe this is yours," Diana said cheerily removing a folded picture from her pocket handing it to Max.

Taking the picture Max unfolded it and looked at it with a watery grin, "That ya sister?" Diana asked inquisitively, Max shook her head not taking her eyes of the picture, "That's Chloe isn't it," Rachel spoke slowly as she got up and crouched down in front of Max, Max gave a nod and sighed, "She's my best friend, I've known her since I was five, we did everything together," she replied as a fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Prison for a prison**

"ok so you ready for the info dump," Rachel said cheerily as the three girls sat in the common room, A few white plastic tables and chairs were spaced evenly around, A small corner kitchen in the corner with bare necessities, an electric hob, and oven, along with a sink, a cheap looking microwave, and a kettle, A washing line ran the full length of the room to one side with the same tiling as in the hallway and a few led lights in the ceiling, Max sat in one of the chairs with Rachel and Diana sat either side of her, The other girls she had seen before were in the room at the other end of the hallway that Rachel had said was the training room, Max had just finished eating a piece of toast washing it down with a not too great tasting coffee.

Max looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "I guess the hardest part, Is I'm not...leaving here," she muttered as another tear rolled down her cheek, "I guess I just traded one prison for another,", Rachel reached over gently placing a hand on Max's taped up wrist, "Ya wanna talk about it," Rachel said softly, Max shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "I don't really know what happened, Growing up in Arcadia Bay everything seemed great, I had my best friend and was happy," Max let out another sigh, "Then her father died, he was like a second dad to me, And then two days after the funeral I found out we were moving to Seattle for my dad new job, That's when things...changed," she mumbled sitting up she began to draw random shapes on the table with her finger, "Mum would get so angry over the smallest things, I tried to call Chloe only once, She ripped the phone out the wall, and burnt my diary, Got caught trying to run away back to Arcadia Bay a few days after, That's when I got my first of these," Max said pointing to her black eye.

Diana and Rachel looked at Max with pained expressions but Max ploughed on, "After that mom turned into a bit of a control freak but the worst came after I tried to run away a second time, Dad caught me that time and I had a bit of a breakdown, It was during that argument with my mom and dad that I realized I liked Chloe," Max said sheepishly as she felt herself flush red, "Well I'd hope so after being friends for so many years," Diana replied yelping a little as Rachel gave her a kick under the table, looking at Rachel and then back to Max seeing the young girl positively blushing, "Oh...oh, you mean like like,..well now I feel like an idiot...sorry," Dana replied sheepishly as she slouched back in her chair.

Max gave a small grin seeing the redhead slouched back and continued, "Dad left after that and mom went all sergeant pepper on my ass, I was either at school or locked in my room, I thought I was so clever when I ran away again," Max let out a sigh, "Like I said from one prison to another," she finished with a weak smile slouching back in her chair. Rachel looked at Max with a gentle smile, "And that's what you were doing when they got hold of you and brought you here, going to see...Chloe," Max gave a small nod as she wiped away a tear that threatened to escape down her cheek.

"Max," Diana spoke slowly with a careful tone, "Do you remember what I said to you last night, What did you come up with," she asked with an inquisitive frown. Max looked up at her and then to Rachel and back to Diana and sighed, "I thought of sweatshops and drug factories, A variety of cheap labour options, The worst I guess...some sort of...brothel," she finished pulling her knee's up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs looking at the two girls from behind her knee's. Rachel let out an amused humph, "The first few some might argue would be better options, That last one though," Rachel paused to look at Diana, "Looks like your tactic might have actually worked," she said with a grin turning back to Max who was feeling a little confused by the two girls relaxed demeanor, "That last one, though," Rachel continued shaking her head a little, "That doesn't happen here, It's not what this place is for," she said with a smile. Max felt breathed a sigh of relief as she let her knees go and sat up waiting for what seemed like her sentence.

"Max, you've heard of those illegal dog fights people organise," Diana questioned this time, Max nodded recalling seeing something about it on TV, "Well that's pretty much the deal here, accept well were the dog's,..so to speak," Diana finished looking at Max waiting for her response, Max looked at the two girls, as a shiver ran down her spine, "we...I can't fight," she responded sounding a little more alarmed than she intended, Rachel let out an amused giggle, Max shot a look at her, her eyes wide, "Rach I'm serious I've never been in a fight in my life,...At least one where I fighting back at any rate," Max said in earnest, Rachel let out another amused giggle, "Oh really," she said matter of factly pointing to her own fat lip, Max felt herself blush as she looked down at her hands, "That was different, I just...I don't know what happened if I'm honest," she muttered meekly. "heh, You raged out Max that's what happened, Look we can train you, teach you how to fight so last night doesn't happen again,...But finding that part of you, that rage, That's on you...heh...You just might be the biggest surprise those assholes have ever seen," Rachel replied reassuringly.

Max thought about it for a moment, she imagined all the playfights her and Chloe used to have and how she always ended up losing, The times Chloe had come to her rescue when she was getting picked on and bullied at school and the way her mother pushed her around after they moved to Seattle, "I don't think I can," Max muttered shaking her head. "Max, Max look at me," Rachel said in a stern tone gripping Max's wrist firmly causing the young girl to look up at her, Her expression was serious with a hint of a smile, "Belive me when I say you have a mean left hook...You actually hit harder than most guys I've fought and that's the truth, Whatever happened in that shower room, It's in YOU, you just need to figure out how to use it" Rachel finished in an admiring tone, "Besides winning fights, wins you cash, It's not much but it gets you better food and a few little comforts here and there, There are things we don't pay for, though, Default clothes, First aid stuff, water, the basics," Daina said shrugging as she gestured towards the kitchen area, "Most of what we have, we've all earned, we clean up after ourselves and help each other out where we can, It's a team effort," Max glanced at Rachel and back to Diana, "So I've eaten your food," Max replied a little shocked, Diana scoffed, "Yup, but don't sweat it, we had a new order arrive today with extra's, Where do you think ya clothes came from,...besides win or lose we at least get some food," Diana replied cheerily

As the day went on Max listened intently as the two girls explained to her how things worked in what they dubbed 'The hell hole', The whole thing was run by the Prescott's, The only name that kept popping up was Sean, Every three to four weeks there was a weekend where they had to fight for two night's, Winning got them a share of the pot, a be it a low share, They could use the winnings to request pretty much anything, There was a corridor leading off the common room that lead to a lift guarded by two guards at all times in a security room, it was the only way in or out, Provided they stayed away from there, they were left alone, On fight nights they either went up when they were called or were dragged out, They explained to her that, until she could put up a fight, she was relegated to what the guards dubbed the entertainment round, A ten minute intermission either between fights or at the end of the night, All she had to do was last until the clock ran down, unless of course she went down and couldn't get back up, It wasn't worth faking it as they would just beat you anyways, The only way to actually make it onto the lists was to actually win the round, not just endure, Making the lists meant fighting for money, Aside from eating, sleeping, and fighting the girls did whatever they wanted, mostly train or just chill out, They showed Max around the training hall, Various sized weights and punchbags hung from the ceiling, Along with a few sets of sparring gloves and other gear.


	7. Chapter 7

**3 ways out**

Later that evening Max was sat in her room on her sleeping bag, With Rachel changing the bandages on her hands while Max just stared at her hands lost in thought, "You've not said much," Rachel probed gently, Max gave her head a little shake, "Sorry, just a lot to process I guess," Max replied giving her freshly bandaged hand an experimental flex, "hmmm, you've not asked the big one yet...Kinda surprised to be honest," Rachel said as she set about changing the bandage on Max's other hand, Max thought for a moment as the question bounced around inside her, she hadn't asked it for fear of the answer, Clenching her freshly bandaged hand into a fist she winced a little as she watched Rachel tend to her other hand, "Is...Is there a way out?" she asked in a slightly deflated tone, "And there's the big one," Rachel replied as she continued to work, "There are three, although one of them isn't what I would call...viable," Max swallowed, "You mean...suicide," she mumbled. Rachel nodded, "Yup, again not viable as far as I'm concerned, But sometimes people just break and no matter what you do,...you can't fix them," Rachel said solemnly, Max glanced at Rachel seeing a few tears roll down her cheeks, "You mean...Tony," Max asked slowly, "I heard Diana say that name last night before you came in to see me," Max explained quickly, Rachel let out a gentle sob nodding as Max moved next to her placing her arm around the blonde who let out a sigh, " _She was you pretty much you, pulled in off the street, we had two weeks to get her ready, The night they threw her in that cage I'll never forget it, she screamed and begged so much,...When she came back...It..it wasn't her, She was just a shell_ ," Rachel let out a heartful sob leaning into Max's embrace, " _We cleaned her up, of course, gave her some painkillers like we did with you,...god how could I have been so stupid...She wasn't taking them, saved them up all week and then one morning...she just didn't wake up_ ," Rachel finished balling into Max's shoulder, The two girls sat there for a while, Max just letting the blonde sob on her shoulder.

Max sat herself up and placed her hands on the blonde's shoulders and looked her square in the face, "Rach, I swear to dog that's not gonna happen to me ok, If there's a way out of this hell hole,...I'll...do whatever it takes, And then I'll find a way to get you and Diana out of here, you hear, I promise," Max said sternly with a smile, Rachel let out a watery chuckle, "I'm holding you to that," she said grinning, Both girls chuckled at this as Rachel wiped her eyes, "Right let's get your other hand sorted," she said as Max took her position on her bed again giving Rachel her unbandaged hand, "Anyway where was I,..Oh yes ways out, Well there's that one and then there's being bought, Basically some rich dude buys you and takes you away, It's happened to a few girls," Rachel shrugged, "The last way out is to buy your way out, ten grand will get you outta this dump, but I wouldn't make any short term plans, I been here a year and only have about three hundred saved up," Rachel shrugged again looking at Max a little guiltily, "I'm not very good with money ok, never have been, besides everything down here costs as you know, And well I like my weed from time to time," Rachel admitted as she finished up Max's other hand.

Over the next two week's Max spent her time doing basic training with the two girls, Being introduced to the other three girls that were housed with them, Max only knew them by name, Each day she would run herself to exhaustion, each day being able to do an additional lap, or an extra rep of sit ups, When she wasn't training she would watch the other girls sparring with each other trying to mimic their actions, Even when the other girls took a day off Max didn't rest pushing herself harder, Her routine had become set, Get up, shower, eat, train, eat, shower and sleep, At the end of the third week the bandages came off her hands and both Rachel and Diana had kept to their promise of training her, As it turned out Diana was officially a black belt in kickboxing and versed in the basics of several others, most of which were self-taught, Starting on the basics Max had quickly learned a few basic stances, blocks, and rolls, basically anything that prevented her from taking an unnecessary blow. Rachel and Diana would take it in turns launching various attacks at her most of which she could block but found that each time she did they just threw something else into the mix, The end result Max being flat on her back with some of the other girls snickering as they watched only to be silenced when either Rachel or Diana looked in there direction.


	8. Chapter 8

**Friends**

 **April 2008**

It had been four weeks after Max had found herself in what she dubbed 'A better prison than home' It was Saturday night, the second night of the two-night fights, In the common room with two of the other girls Max was picking at a piece of toast waiting for Rachel to come back from her bout, There was only two rounds left, Diana's last fight of the month and Max's 'Entertainment' round, Max snorted recalling her round from the night before, Her opponent had been a middle aged slightly overweight guy, And while he looked strong Max didn't let him lay a finger on her, opting instead to just dance around the cage, mocking him by sweeping his legs occasionally sending him to the ground, The only blows he landed on her she had blocked with ease, And although they had knocked her a few feet, she made sure not to lose her footing and retaliated with a few quick kicks into his side, Not very strong and he shrugged them off with ease they did, however, earn her a few cheers and laughs from the crowd, She remembered the amused expressions on the guards faces when the clock hit zero and her opponent punched the metal cage several times in frustration, "Felt like a training session with D and Rach if I'm honest," she thought to herself as she spotted Diana hobbling into the common room sporting a bruise on her cheek, with one of the other girls supporting her till she got the table Max was sat at.

"Don't say it Max," Diana said raising her hand at Max, taking her seat and thanking the other girl, "You can't go out there like that D, you can bearly stand," Max replied leaning back in her chair with arms crossed, Diana let out a sigh, "I don't have a choice Max, either way, I'm gonna end up with a few more bruises tonight, Don't worry I won't em get off lightly," Daina replied with a reassuring grin. The girls sat there for the next five minutes watching the clock waiting for Rachel's fight to end, At the slow patter of bare feet coming down the corridor Max shot out of her chair poking her head out of the doorway to see Rachel walking down the corridor with a slight limp, a few bruises on her forearms along with a red blotch on her stomach, One of her eyes were nearly closed in a black eye, blood ran down her face from her nose down her chin, "Holy shit Rach," Max exclaimed running to the blonde putting the blonde's arm over her shoulder as she helped take the weight off her sprained ankle, "You look terrible," Max said as a matter of fact, "heh, you should see the other guy," Rach shot back with bloody grin, "Well I hope you got a win for your trouble," Diana said with a pained look as she saw the two girls come around the corner, Rachel just grinned, "Of course I did, This month we're cleaning house," she replied as she looked at Diana getting to her feet putting all her weight on her good leg, "Then again," Rachel muttered, Diana rolled her eyes "Oh don't you start, Already had Max and two of the other girls give me a grilling," Diana snapped looking annoyed. Max helped Rachel to a seat as two of the other girls came over with a first aid kit and bowls of water and clean rags and set about cleaning Rachel up.

"D your up," Paul the more friendly of the guards, The only one which the girls trusted came around the corner passing a glance at Rachel with a grimace, "Least you walked away from that one, unlike ya opponent," he chuckled, Rachel just shrugged, "Not my fault he didn't stay down," she replied with a smirk, Diana hobbled over to Paul who put her arm over his shoulder and walked out of the doorway, "Hey Rach, break out the green, think I'm gonna need it after," Diana shot over her shoulder as they turned the corner down the corridor, Max stood there and watched as Paul and Diana disappeared around the corner and then looked at the other girls, Most of them were covered in dust, blood and sweat and had varying degrees of bruises and small cuts, most taped up, Looking down at Rachel as one of the girls cleaned up the blood on her face, Another was taping up her ankle, Without saying a word Max snatched the tape off the girl and ran out of the door down the hallway, "Max what are you doing," Rachel asked in surprise.

"Wait," Max shouted after Paul and Diana as she ran down the hallway taping up her hand and arm, Stopping a few feet from the security office Paul and Diana turned to Max, "Wassup," Paul said inquisitively eyeing Max up as she started taping up her other arm, "I'm taking her place," Max replied flatly, she felt her heart rate increase as she spoke, Diana's eyes went wide, As a series of gasps and whispers came from the corridor behind her, Max sat herself down and began taping up one of her ankles, passing a glance down the hall towards the common room, "Max you can't, you'll get destroyed," Diana said in surprise, "She's right Max, your not ready," Rachel said loudly as she limped up the hallway with two of the girls in tow, Max finished taping up her ankles and got to her feet giving herself a little bounce to stretch the tape in, "I may never be ready Rach, And your right I probably can't win I fully expect that,...But what I won't do is watch my friends take a beating just so I can eat," Max replied calmly facing Diana, Diana hobbled herself towards Max leaving Paul a few feet behind, "Max I appreciate the gesture, But honestly I'll be fine, besides they won't let you," Diana finished with a smile, Max looked up at Paul who had a frown, "Will they let me take her place," Max asked flatly, "Uh I dunno," Paul replied as he turned and jogged up to the security office speaking to one of the guards, "MAX," Diana shouted to get her attention, "Your not ready," "Were you?" Max snapped back, "Was Rachel, was any of them," she continued gesturing to the other girls that had made their way just a few feet behind Diana and Max, "Was I ready when they shoved me in there a month ago, none of us were truly ready D," Max shot back flatly as she fought to keep the tear she felt coming at bay, as Paul came up behind them his expression worried, "Well," Max snapped turning to the man, Paul nodded, "They fine with it, but she's gotta do the entertainment afterwards," he said gesturing to Diana, "Max I won't let you," Diana snapped grabbing Max's shoulder and swinging her around her fist already in the air, Instinctively Max brought her arm up blocking the blow and followed up with a leg sweep taking Diana's legs from under her sending her backwards into Rachel who caught her, Several of the girls let out gasps as both Diana and Rachel looked up at Max with shocked expressions. Max turned on her heel and headed to the Lift with Paul alongside without saying a word.

Max stood in the lift next to Paul as she adjusted the tape on her hands and flexed her fists, "This is very brave of you, you know," Paul admired looking down at Max, Max didn't reply focusing instead on keeping her shaking under control, "Look I don't know if this will help any, But the guy you're up against,...he likes to make a show, If he gets you down, he'll prance around like an idiot, A bit like those wrestlers do on TV,", Max looked up the man, his expression one of concern, "Thanks I guess," she replied with a weak smile as the elevator reached its desired floor and the doors opened.

Max could hear loud cheering and shouting coming from the end of the corridor, The bright floodlights flooding the dusty arena area up ahead, The smell of smoke, beer, and sweat filled her nostrils as she took a deep breath and started walking forwards, "ten minutes and it will be over for another month," she thought to herself as she put one foot in front of the other Paul at her side, At the end of the corridor was a metal gate, approaching it Paul took a key out and unlocked it and looked at Max, "You ready," he said, Max swallowed as she felt her heart rate increase, she looked up at at Paul and nodded as he opened the gate and Max stepped into the cage.


	9. Chapter 9

**Round one**

The crowd erupted in cheers and taunts with many banging on the cage causing it to rattle as Max entered the arena, Her eyes adjusting quickly to the bright lights, Choosing to ignore the cheers and taunts she looked around for her opponent only to see him walking in a door the other end, A jolt of fear shot through her as she eyed her opposition, The man was easily twice her size wearing just a pair of jeans, His upper body looked intimidating, to say the least, toned and muscular with various tattoo's and several piercings on his ear, "He really does look like a fucking wrestler, He'll crush me if he get hold of me," She thought to herself in alarm, Max began matching her opponents movements as they began circling each other, The crowd reduced to just a few shouting individuals as everyone waited to see who made the first move.

Her opponent broke into a sprint closing the gap between himself and Max his fist raised, Max deflected the blow as her adrenaline began to surge, seeing the man overextend himself she brought her leg up connecting her ankle into the guys abdomen, earning a few cheers from the crowd, The man seemed unphased though as he grabbed Max by the leg causing her to gasp as he flung her against the chain link fence and walked towards her fist raised again, thinking on impulse Max dived forwards between the man's legs turning on her back she brought her foot up into his crotch causing the man to stumble a little and grunt, earning a few laughs and oooh's from the crowd, Not wasting any time she rolled herself backwards onto her feet sprinted two steps forwards and launched herself in the air slamming both her feet into the man's back slamming him against the fence his head colliding with a support pole, Landing flat on her back Max repeated her backwards roll landing on her feet as she gave some distance between her and her opponent, She was only vaguely aware of the crowds cheering as her opponent turned to face her, he had blood coming from his nose, Letting out a agitated growl the man shot forwards taking a swing at Max which she blocked outright, the force of the blow caused her feet to slip on the dusty floor, Focusing on the guys other arm Max didn't notice his knee coming up until it was too late as it slammed into her abdomen knocking the wind out of her, As she folded over from the impact another knee came up to meet her in the face, The force of the blow crushed her lip against her front teeth slicing into it, she could feel the hot sticky liquid filling her nose and the strong taste of iron in her mouth as her head snapped backwards from the impact taking her body with it, she felt another blow impact her forehead as she crashed to the floor in a mess of dust and blood her vision blurring as she struggled to breath, struggling to get to her feet only to be greeted with a powerful kick to her midsection flipping her over as she tried to curled into a ball, The cheering from the crowd fading into distortion as she lay on her back pain shooting through her body, gasping for air,as she waited for the inevitable.


	10. Chapter 10

Catalyst 2.0

"Well this is another fine mess you got us into," Max heard as she lay there on a dusty floor, The area was poorly lit, Propping herself up on her elbows Max looked around seeing the arena was completly desserted, Through the cage she could see row's of benches, empty beer cans and discarded ciggerette packets littering the floor under them, A few feet away from her was a girl with her back to her, arms at her sides with her fists clenched, shoulder length brunette hair, Black knee length jeans with a black sports bar, Her feet and hands taped up, "Ya know you almost had me with that little speech of yours before getting into the lift," The brunette said flatly letting out a sigh, "Who...are you?" Max asked trying to get to her feet, but feeling like there was an invissible weight on her preventing her from doing so, "What was the point in doing this to us, what did you hope to acheave," The blonde snapped angrily ignoring Max's question, Max let herself fall back down on her back as she stared up at the cealing, "I just wanted..." Max sighed trailing off, "You wanted what?" The brunette asked angrily, "I...just wanted to help my friends," Max replied defeatedly, The brunette scoffed, "What by getting us beaten to a pulp, Did you even stop to think how Diana would feel, knowing were up here taking a kicking for her," The brunette shot accusingly.

"I don't wanna see my freind's get hurt, Not when...not when I can help them," Max snapped back as she forced herself into a sitting position, the invisible weight feeling a little more bearable, "That's what you tell yourself isn't it," the brunette said as she turned to face Max, "problem is..you don't even belive it," she spat angrily, the girls face was blotchy from crying, One of her blue eyes had a dark purple bruise under it with blood running from her nose and split lip, Max gasped as she stared at the girl in disbelief as though staring at a mirror, "Look like shit don't we," Max's doppleganger said crossing her arms as she shifted her weight to one foot, Max shook her head slowly, "You can't be me...the bruise is on the wrong side," Max said in disbelief as she pointed to her own bruise on the opposite cheek, Max's doppleganger gave an ammused humph, "At least you havn't scrabled our brain at least, The bigger question is, WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE DOING HERE," The dopple ganger shouted down at Max visibly shaking, Max flinched at the sudden change in tone her body trembling, "If...mom woulda just let me..", "Thank's but we already know this story so youll have to exscuse me for not giving a shit, While I do agree with you that that is why were here thats not what I meant," The doppleganger cut Max off with a board tone, "I asked, What are WE doing here, here in this arena," she continued holding her arms out singnaling the place thery were in.

Max looked around the abandand arena "I...I told you already," Max stammered feeling herself shrink under her own gaze, "Oh right," the doppleganger said sarcastically, "You don't want to see 'your' friends get hurt," the doppleganger continued in her sarcastic tone using her hands to air qoute 'your' and scoffed, "Too bad you can't help the one that matters," she snapped as a fresh tear rolled down her cheek, "You mean Chloe," Max muttered wrapping her arms around her knees as she rested her chin on them letting her own tears roll down her cheeks, as she thought about her best friend hurting over her dad, "Oh so you didn't forget then, William dieing, her best friend moving away, not contacting her," "That wasnt my fault," Max snapped, "And I guess by now, knowing her best freind is missing possibly DEAD," the doppleganger shouted the last part her fists clenched, Max was taken back by her final words as she imagined Chloe's reaction to her being missing presumed dead, recalling her reaction to when she found out her dad had been killed in a car crash, Max shook her head, "I'm not dead though," Max mumbled as she felt a new weight threatened to crush her, The doppleganger scoffed lightly, "May as well be," she sneered.

Max slumped her shoulders as another tear rolled down her cheek, "I'm scared,...scratch that I'm terrified...And I don't know what to do," she sobbed, "Oh your scared all right, But it's not of whats in here," the doppleganger said gesturing around them, "Your scared of what will happen when you get out of here and tell her how you feel," "Thats not true," Max sobbed, "If you are me then you know I was on my way to tell her," Max forced through her clenched teeth balling her fists, The doppleganger smirked, "You just didn't get a chance to turn around thats all, Maybe mom was right, silly schoolgirl crush" "SHUT UP, THATS NOT TRUE AND YOU KNOW IT," Max screamed at the doppleganger her anger boiling over at the brunettes words as she slammed her firsts into the ground, The doppleganger took a step towards Max extrending her hand with a smirk, "Then lets work on getting the fuck out of this shit pit," she said as Max took her hand and she pulled her to her feet.


	11. Chapter 11

**What it takes**

A red haze covered Max's eyes, as cheers and shouting started becoming clearer, Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand Max saw blood on the tape as a fresh drop of blood hung from her eyebrow, Wiping it away Max felt her whole body still shaking, It took her a second to realise but it wasn't fear, This was rage, The same rage she felt against her mother, The same rage she unleashed in the shower room, But this was controlled, poised, She let it fill her from her core to every part of her body as the shaking slowly stopped, her fear buried deep under a torrent of rage coiled tightly ready to be unleashed, She looked up to see her opponent with his back to her celebrating to the crowd, "Arrogant fuck," Max thought as she clenched her fists, just in time for the man to turn around with a shit eating grin, Max wiped the blood from her chin with her fist as she let a smirk appear on her lips her eyes narrowed on her target.

Max launched herself across the arena at the same time the man began sprinting towards her his fist raised, Max knew what he would do, she didn't try to block it, instead ducking under his swing at the last second sticking her arm out and slamming it into the man's abdomen causing him to let out a surprised grunt, The force of the impact caused Max to spin around, using the momentum she jumped on his back grabbing hold of the man's ear piercings and trust herself off his back with her legs, Rewarded with a blood curdling scream and the crowd erupting in cheers as Max landed a distance behind the man and looked in her hand at the two ring studs attached to a lump of flesh, "If this is what I have to do...so be it," Max thought throwing the grisly trophy to the floor, "You little fucking bitch,..I'm gonna kill you," the man shouted as he ran towards Max clutching his bleeding ear, Max didn't move, instead spinning on her foot bringing her other leg up she slammed her heel into the unprotected side of the guys jaw hearing a satisfying crunch, The force caused the man to stagger a little as Max lost her footing falling on her backside, Again the Man bared down on her blood dripping from his mouth, As he closed the last foot Max snapped her leg up making a clean connection between her heel and his jaw sending him reeling as she rolled forwards and launched herself forwards slamming her fist into the guys crotch putting as much of her weight into as she could causing the guy to double over letting out a painful groan, Getting to her feet Max grabbed the man's head as he doubled over shoving it down hard as she brought her knee up slamming it into his face causing him to topple over and fall flat on his back cradling his blood covered face, Max took a step towards her opponent panting heavily as she looked down at him as he cradled his bleeding face, "Think your big beating up girls," Max spat through gritted teeth as she jumped up and slammed both feet into the guys stomach, his eyes went wide as the wind was knocked out of him causing a spray of blood to get forced from his mouth landing up Max's arm and the side of her face as she stepped off him, "I'm done being pushed around," Max muttered glancing at the guy on the floor who was laying all but motionless say for laboured breathing as the bell rung out signaling the round was over, The crowd went ballistic with cheer's and boo's as several objects flew over the top of the cage aimed at the man on the floor as Max walked over to her gate.

Max stood against the gate of the cage and watched as two guards came into the ring and carried the man out, "Remind me not to piss you off," Paul said as he began unlocking the gate, "Don't," Max said hinting towards the lock and looking up at Paul, "Diana is NOT fighting tonight," Max said determinedly, Paul looked at her with a frown, "Max it's only the entertainment round, I'm sure she..." "She can bearly stand, I'll take this one," Max said flatly her adrenaline still running high, Paul sighed and signaled one of the guards across arena, "Diana is gonna be pissed at you ya know," Paul said with a smirk, Max responded with her own smirk, "she'll get over it" she replied as she turned around to see her next opponent entering the door the other side of the arena, He didn't look much older than herself, with shaggy brown hair wearing a red coat and blue jeans, Max didn't wait for the bell as she launched herself across the arena at full sprint, The bell sounding just as she reached the halfway mark, The young man looked like a deer caught in headlights as he glanced either side of him and then collapsed to the ground in a ball, Max screeched to a halt less than two feet from him kicking up a small cloud of dust, eyeing him suspiciously as the crowd started booing and shouting obscenities, she let out a sigh only to be hit in the face by a strong smell of urine, Looking down she saw a puddle coming from the young man working its way towards her, Raising a eyebrow she took a step backwards and turned on her heel and sprinted back towards Paul at her gate shrugging, "err do I look that scary," she asked a little bewildered, Paul gave a little grin, "You do look like something out of a horror movie, and he just witnessed you ripping a guys ear off," he said, Max snorted "I thought pissing ya self due to being scared was just a figure of speech," Paul glanced over Max towards the young lad still curled up on the floor with a frown and then back at Max raising his eyebrows, "Seriously," he said sounding surprised, Max nodded grinning, Paul shook his head while rubbing forehead chuckling, "I wouldn't have called this tonight," he said signaling to the other guard, A few seconds later the bell rang signaling the end of the round as the crowd started booing, A few started laughing hysterically and like wildfire the rest of the crowd followed suit, Max assumed that word had got out as the young man scrambled out of the door and disappeared into the crowd.

Walking down the corridor back to the lift Max was still snickering to herself and didn't notice that Paul was also trying to stifle a laugh, Entering the life Paul let loose a hearty laugh as the doors closed causing Max to start laughing herself, "I've never...I've never seen that happen before," Paul got out between gasps, Getting her laughing under control Max took a few deep breaths, "Well it was entertaining, they can't deny that," she said still snickering, After a few moments Paul stopped laughing as hard and reached into his pockets bringing out two small bags of what looked like chopped up leaves, Max eyed the bags with a frown, "Whats that," she asked, Paul cleared his throat, "This is just a little something for you girls, I got it thinking you might need after another beating, But now I guess its for celebration instead," he said handing Max the two bags, "You'll want to hide that," he added, Max's eyes went wide, "Is this weed," she asked surprised in a hushed tone, Paul nodded, "Hide it," he repeated, Max looked up at him confused and was about to ask where when he gestured to her chest, "Oh," max muttered and she quickly shoved a bag into each bra cups and patted them down till they were about the right shape, "Are you sure the other guards won't notice i just went up two bra sizes," she asked looking down at her slightly bulging bra, Paul just chuckled, "This isn't homeland security,".


	12. Chapter 12

**The price of freedom**

 **October 2012**

"I can't believe your finally getting out," Rachel said hugging Max as a tear rolled down her cheek, "Gonna miss you mad Max," Diana said wiping a tear from her cheek, "Thanks guys," Max said taking a step back as she wiped her eyes with her arm, "I couldn't have done this without your help,..heh..as well as that birthday present, you guys didn't have to do that" Max replied trying to contain herself, It had been four long years, countless bruises cuts and fights, But thanks to Diana and Rachel's 17th birthday present of three grand between them, And Max scrupulous saving, Passing on anything that wasn't necessary she had managed to save up enough to buy her own freedom, and she was due to be escorted out, "hey you deserve it ok, You have a father that will be ecstatic to see you, not to mention Chloe,...And I know I shouldn't but your mom too, she deserves to at least know your alive," Rachel said as Diana took her turn to hug the brunette, "I know, but I can't help but blame her," Max replied stepping back looking down at her hands shrugging, "And Chloe's probably moved on by now," she sighed picturing the thirteen-year-old smiling blonde, "Maybe, then again stranger things have happened,...I seem to remember seeing a pint-sized brunette shocking everyone by proving she could rough it with the toughest of em," Diana said appraisingly smiling, "Well I had two good teachers," Max replied smiling, looking up at the two girls.

There was a cough at the doorway of the common room causing the three girls to turn to see Paul waiting with a half smile, "Ready to get outta here Max," he said, Max took one last look around the common room, A place she had, unwillingly, called home for the last four years, the other three girls always kept changing as they were sold off, none lasting more than a month or two, The other two girls they shared their living space with Max didn't bother to get to know, they liked to keep to themselves, Max looked up at Rachel, "I meant what I said ya know, I'm gonna find a way to get you out, both of you," she said hugging both teary girls at the same time, "I just wish we could all walk out of here together," Max finished as she forced back a few tears, "Well be here, unless of course, we buy our way out first, in which case we'll come find you in Arcadia," Rachel said with a watery grin, "Do me a favor Max, Get ya self a belt...your a natural," Diana added giving Max a friendly jab in the shoulder. Max said her final farewells to her two friends before being escorted down the corridor into the lift, As the doors closed Max looked up at Paul who had a concerned look about him, "Hey I'll be fine, Just promise me you'll look after those two alright," Max said with a half smile turning to look at the floor indicator on the lift counting down the floors to her freedom, "I'll do my best Max," Paul said sincerely as Max felt a sharp pinch in the back of her neck as everything went dark.

Max could hear a radio playing a song she had never heard before as she was jostled around, The sound of metal objects clanging against metal as an engine droned on, Feeling groggy she sat herself up and looked around to see she was in the back of a van, The air was thick and stuffy with the smell of oil filling the brunettes nostrils, Rubbing the back of her neck she felt the spot where she had been injected with something, "Cheers for the heads up Paul...asshole," she thought to herself as her eyes became accustomed to the dimly lit area, She could see a few rags and some larger pieces of cloth with fairly large bloodstains on them, along with a pair of shovels, Max frowned, "What would they...OH SHIT, there gonna kill me," she thought to herself in alarm as she felt a rush of adrenalin force its way through her system snapping her out of her groggy state, Looking around for a weapon she opted for a long wheel brace, quietly she picked it up and made her way to the back of the van waiting for her chance.

She didn't have to wait long, a few minutes later the van came to a stop and the engine shut off, she heard two doors open and close and two pairs of feet walking around outside, Max pressed herself against the side of the van holding her improvised weapon over her head, her heart was pounding so loudly she thought the people outside would hear it as she gripped onto the wheel brace tightly to try and control her shaking, "forgive me," she thought to herself as the double doors opened and she brought the weapon down on a bald man's head as it poked into view.

There was a dull thud as she brought the wheel brace down on the bald man's head followed by a grunt as the guy collapsed to the floor of the truck half hanging out, Not waiting Max launched herself out of the truck weapon raised to strike down the second person, It was night time, but the full moon and clear skies lit up the sandy surroundings quite brightly, "Easy Max, easy," Paul said calmly, Max looked at him, dressed in black jeans and a long trenchcoat, He had his hands raised defensively clutching a syringe in one hand which Max kept her eye on, Seeing Max's gaze Paul looked at the syringe in his hand and gave a small smirk as he emptied the contents onto the floor and dropped the syringe, "That was meant for him," he said nodding to the man hanging out of the van, Max looked at Paul feeling confused, "Should I trust him...his the one that knocked me out," she thought to herself gripping her weapon tightly as she took a slow step backwards, "Ya know with how quiet you were being I thought I gave you too much sedative, Looks like I got it just about right," He said taking a step towards the Van and dragging the man out, The man let out a groan as he hit the floor, Paul then grabbed one of the bloodstained sheets, dragging it over the unconscious man and pulled a flick knife out of his trousers he looked up at Max with a grim expression, "You may wanna turn around for a moment," he said in a solemn tone, Max's eyes widened as she watched Paul lift the sheet slightly and put his knife hand under it, Max shut her eyes and turned away dropping her weapon on the floor with a dull thud as she heard a brief gargling noise, "Oh my god he just...holy fuck," Max thought to herself as she started to shake involuntarily.

Max heard Paul drag something metallic out of the van and take a few steps away, Turning round Max saw the body on the floor covered in the sheet as fresh blood began seeping through it and from under it a small crimson puddle started to form, a few feet away Paul was busy digging a hole, Max assumed it was for the now dead guy under the sheet, Taking a few steps towards Paul giving the body under the sheet a wide birth she stopped a few feet away not taking her eyes off the covered corpse, "What...whats going on," Max asked shakily, Paul shoved the shovel into the sand and leaned on it sighing, "Well, as you probably guessed, we were supposed to get rid of you, Hopefully by now you've realized that was never my intention," she said with a smile, Max shook her head slightly with a confused expression, "You work for the Prescott's though," she said as her heart rate and shaking began to return to normal, "HA" Paul snorted shaking his head, "A necessary evil I'm afraid,...I don't want to bore you with the details but lets just say I got into some trouble and Prescott's bailed me out, If I don't work for them, my family pays the price," he replied with a grim expression as he started digging again, "If it wasn't for my family though I'd still work for em, Least then I can do my best to keep you and the others safe until I can figure out a way to put an end to it all," he finished as he continued digging, "Your protecting us," Max muttered as she thought about all the times Paul had helped them and brought them stuff they wouldn't have otherwise gotten over the last four years, "Why didn't you say anything," Max asked as she walked over the van and pulled out the other shovel joining Paul in digging, Paul let out a grunt as she heaved another shovel of sand out of the hole, "And risk blowing my cover, Best to keep you girls guessing and give my employers no reason to doubt me,..look Max you don't have to do that," he said with a strained voice as he watched Max start digging, "Look you just saved my ass," Max replied glancing over at the sheet covered corpse, "Where are we anyways," she continued as she resumed digging.

Paul dug his shovel in the sand again putting his hands on his waist, "This is the Chihuahuan desert in Mexico, Las Cruces is about fifteen miles that direction," he said pointing the direction the truck was pointing, "Mexico," Max said surprised, "How the hell am I gonna get home," she asked, Paul walked over to the corpse signaling Max to stop digging, and started rummaging through the dead man's pockets, "If you mean to your parents, you can't not yet anyways, If your face ends up on the news...lets just say we and everyone we care about ends up dead," he said flatly as he put something in his pocket and dragged the dead guy over the sand into the hole and he and Max began filling in the hole.

Max sat in the back of the van her legs dangling over the bumper as she drained a bottle of water Paul had given her while he set about cleaning up anything that might give them away, "What will you tell them," Max asked as Paul tossed the shovels into the van and sat down next to Max, "Well, I'll just tell the truth,..up to the point when you came at me with a weapon after 'you' killed him," he said nodding to the unmarked grave, "And I'll say I killed you as ordered, and buried the pair of you,...don't worry no one will miss him, not the first time someone's died on the job," he said rubbing Max's shoulder reassuringly.

After a short silence Paul started rummaging around in the back of the van producing a small rucksack handing it to Max, "Here, it's not much but it should help you build something of a life,...at least until you can be you again," he said with a half smile, Max took the rucksack and went through it, A bottle of water, a grey jumper that looked a little big for her, a pair of grey trainers which to her surprise fitted her and two envelopes filled with cash, Pulling out the envelopes Max held them up questioningly, "That's your freedom cash, ten grand, In all honesty it's not nearly enough for what you been through but it should be enough to get you on your feet, Also for now your gonna have to leave Max behind...Like I said the world probably thinks your..dead, for the time being, its best you stay that way," he said as he handed Max a drivers license and passport, Inspecting it Max saw herself but with the name 'Kelly Buckle'.

A few hours later they were both in the city of Douglas, Paul had given Max a contact number for them to stay in touch and after Max had gone into a few clothes stores she had herself a new outfit and a few other bits, Paul saw her on a bus and waved her off as Max headed north to start her new life.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey all, Kinda a Prelog for Chloe, (It's short) But don't fret the next chapter is READY to roll out, (And the two after are very close) Bunch of feels but I feel (no pun intended) its needed mostly for expositional stuff.**

 **Also a big thank you to those that have left reviews, You have no idea how nice it is to wake up to that kind of thing, (Got weird looks from work colleagues all day but meh)**

 **Fair warning, It's possible someone is chopping onions nearby (Or I'm far to soft...it's possible)**

 **Guilt train**

" **Get out go on, Just fuck off and leave me alone** ," Chloe stood on the outside looking in as she watched an angry younger blonde version of herself lash out at the teary eyed brunette, "Chlo I don't..," " **Your dead to me, go on just fuck off I don't need you** ," Max had tried to reason with her but Chloe's younger self just shouted her down, seeing Max's expression at those words, hurt wasn't close enough, The girl was crushed and her younger self, didn't even seem to care, Watching as Max turned and ran out the door Chloe felt a tear rolling down her cheek as regret filled her, "I'm sorry..I didn't mean it,...Max come back,...please," she sobbed as the door slammed shut, A few moments later the door opened again and Joyce walked in her expression troubled, Chloe was laid huddled under her duvet now, Her posters, and pictures torn down leaving only bits of blue tack as the only tale, tale signs that something had once hung there, All torn down in a fit of rage and stuffed in a box in the bottom of her closet. "Chloe have you heard from Max," she asked gently, The young blonde didn't move, "Not since she left for Seattle, since I told her too...go," The blonde mumbled from under her duvet bubble, Joyce walked over and sat on the foot of the bed stroking the lump under the duvet that was the blonde's head.

"She knows you didn't mean it, Chloe," Joyce said with a sigh, "Look if you hear from her let me know ok," she added with a worried tone, Chloe pulled her head out from under the duvet, her face red and blotchy as she tucked some of her hair that had stuck to her face behind her ear looking at her mom with a frown, "mom what's going on?" The blonde questioned sniffing loudly, Joyce looked at her with a pained expression, "Chloe...Max is missing,"

 **April 2008**

Chloe woke with a start as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, Her pillow with a large wet patch from where she had been crying, Sitting up she wiped her face trying to compose herself, The drizzly cloudy morning perfectly reflected the young blonde's mood as she dragged herself out of bed and got dressed, Not giving her hair much thought after hacking it off in anger a few days prior she made her way downstairs to get something to eat. Finding the house empty Chloe grabbed a pop tart and shoved it in the toaster, as she waited for her breakfast she spotted a sticky note attached to the fridge saying her mom had been called into work early.

Walking into town Chloe nibbled on her pop tart breakfast as she made her way to the bus station, It had been a month since Max had gone missing, according to her mom, Venessa and Max had a major argument about two weeks after moving up to Seattle, The result was that Ryan had moved out and the next day Max had disappeared, ever since then the young blonde had spent the best part of every day at the bus station with her friends picture trying to see if anyone had seen her, And each day she would go home disappointed, frustrated and angry, And today was looking no different, After spending most of the day watching a sea of faces Chloe started slowly making her way back home.

Walking down an alley, a short cut she had taken every day without much mind, she played the last time she saw her friend over and over in her head, " **How..could..I..be..so..stupid** ," she screamed through gritted teeth as she kicked a nearby trashcan relentlessly with each word, "I think you got it," A male voice claimed from behind her, Turning slightly Chloe saw a middle-aged man, wearing blue jeans, blue shirt with trimmed black hair and a trimmed moustache, "Sorry," she mumbled picking the trashcan up and placing it upright, wiping her face, "I'm sure I can convince it not to sue you," the man chuckled, Chloe let herself crack a smile, "Ya know, bottling everything up isn't healthy, If you need somin to wail on I might have just the thing," the man said as he turned and went in the door he was standing at, Curiously Chloe looked at the door before her gaze drifted above it to the sign 'Arcadia Gym', she almost turned around and walked away until she caught a glimpse of the battered trashcan, It had felt kinda nice to lash out at something, It hadn't kerbed her anger any, not really, but it had helped, shrugging she turned back around and went inside the gym.

Inside the gym was almost deserted, only one other person working out on the treadmill, The man that invited her introduced himself as David, as it turned out he ran the gym and showed Chloe around finishing the quick tour at a large brown punchbag hanging from the ceiling, David went to do some stuff in the office leaving Chloe alone with her emotions and a willing target, Cautiously she gave the bag a kick and watched as it swung gently away and then back to her before kicking it harder making it swing away further, each kick she could feel a well of guilt and anger building inside her as eyes began to well, the dam on her emotions began to crumble as she started adding punches letting the last two months of guilt and pain erupt into a barrage of fury, " **Give her back, Give her back, Give her back to me** ," the blonde screamed as she crumpled onto the crash mat, exhausted, sobbing to herself, "Come back, Max,"

* * *

 **Well, that's one distraught teenager, But ya had to have guessed how Chloe felt when Max disappeared, just thought I'd actually write it down to save guessing, plus it's a little background on some future stuff...too obvious.**

 **As promised the one after WILL be up within a few hours and I'm gonna be cruel right now, There's a cliffhanger, and the chapter after next IS ready...but ima make you wait, muahaha**

 **As always reviews and comments are welcome.**

 **stay happy**


	14. Chapter 14

**So how many of you have been refreshing ya inbox...be honest**

 **I promised and I do thou deliver**

* * *

 **Birthday wish**

 **March 11th, 2013**

Chloe reached down the side of her bed for her phone while the rest of her was still under the duvet, after fumbling for a few moments she retrieved it, pulling it back under the duvet and checking the time, 9:15 am, Checking her messages she saw she had a few birthday wishes from her friends over at Blackwell, including one from her mom inviting her for dinner at the two whales at 4:00 pm, groaning she sat herself up, Looking around for a moment she decided it was probably best to shower first, then she could go straight to dinner after class, Begrudgingly she clawed her way out of bed and shuffled towards her door nearly tripping over her sparring gloves, kicking them out of the way she caught herself in the mirror and noticed the roots of her hair were starting to show, Her first class wasn't until 10:30 am so she grabbed the blue hair dye from her desk and spent the next forty minutes re-dying her hair and getting ready for the day.

Downstairs she grabbed a quick bowl of fruit loops and shoveled em down before the milk even had a chance to start turning them slightly soft, Checking her phone again the time read 10:05 am, "heh enough time to get to Blackhell and have a smoke before class," she thought to herself as she rinsed her bowl off, grabbed her bag and headed out to her truck, The drive to Blackwell had been fairly uneventful as far as driving went, The day itself was fairly bright for March, few light clouds with a cool breeze, Pulling into the car park she shut off the engine and pulled out a joint from her glove box and lit it, Inhaling slowly she leaned back prepping herself for the day, It wasn't as if she hated school, It was just she didn't want to have to be there today, It felt well...wrong, Looking out over the lot she saw Nathan walking along muttering to himself as he tapped away on his phone, "weirdo" Chloe thought, Nathan wasn't a bad guy, just odd, always jumpy and mostly kept to himself, A few other students offered waves at her and she lazily waved back taking another pull as she let her thoughts drift to her lost friend "Hey Chloe, birthday greets," The male voice brought Chloe out of her daydream as she sat up in her seat looking out of the window to see Hayden walking up to her, "Hey Hayden, thanks," Chloe said as she got out of her truck grabbing her bag as she did so, "Been shredding the rails this morning," Chloe gestured to the board in the guys arm as she inhaled a final toke before stubbing the butt with the heel of her boot, Hayden nodded, "You know it," he grinned as the two walked up to class.

Time seemed to drag by for the blue haired punk, Most of her classes were a snoozefest, Science and art were the only two she really bothered with, the rest were just meh, doing just enough to keep her GPA at a respectable 3.0, She could probably get it higher but she just didn't care about the rest, She had her art, found science a nice mental challenge, and her physical outlet was her Kickboxing, Having reached a black belt not too long ago, She already had plans on going further, maybe even teaching at some point later in life, as far as she was concerned, she was set, anything else was just icing on the cake, Even so, she always felt something was missing, She had loads of friends, Her mom, even her stepdad was a decent guy, He didn't replace her father, not at all, But it was him that introduced her to kickboxing, and in turn she had introduced him to her mom, It may have been a bit quick after her dad passing and Max leaving then disappearing but she couldn't exactly complain, she had, after all, introduced them.

Finally the final bell went and Chloe shot out of class in blur, The thought of food usually motivated the punk anyways, but birthday food was even better, She jogged to her truck and launched her bag into the trailer as she climbed in and started the engine, A quick glance around revealed only a few had got out so far, shrugging Chloe slammed her foot on the gas and sped out of the parking lot, traveling down the road Chloe was bobbing along to a song she was playing on her stereo as she pulled up to a set of traffic lights, She heard a throaty roar of a motorcycle pulling up along side her, she snorted to herself imagining one of the biker dudes that she usually saw cruising around and gave a nod in the direction of the noise, her eye, however, caught sight of something she didn't expect, Pink hair coming from under a white, black and pink helmet, Matching biker jacket along with a superbike looking motorcycle, again in matching black and white with a pink stripe running along the bike between the other two colours, The rider looked a little small for the bike but otherwise Chloe thought she, she assumed it was a she, looked pretty cool, Chloe gave an amused humph as the bike roared into life giving a slight wheelie as it sped off, "Cool, but a total showoff," She thought to herself as she flipped off the person behind her who was beeping their horn telling Chloe the light was green.

Parking her truck in the parking lot of the two whales diner, Chloe let out a groan as she saw a happy birthday Chloe banner stretched across one of the windows near her usual booth, Sighing she got out and went inside taking her seat in her marked booth as her mom came over, "And there's my birthday girl," Joyce said cheerily, Chloe felt herself sink a little as a few of the other patrons said happy birthday to her, reluctantly she waved a thank you back to them, "Mom do ya have to make a big deal out of it," she muttered quietly picking up a sugar packet and giving it a flick, Joyce let out an amused sigh, "Actually yes I do, My daughters turned nineteen,...now stop sulking and tell me what ya want to eat, I assume coffee is a given," she said smiling, Chloe rolled her eyes, "ok if you must,..yeah coffee is a given,...and hmmm, The biggest burger ya got and some wedges," she said batting her lashes at her mom playfully, Joyce chuckled, "on the way, Oh don't disappear too quick, David is swinging by about sixish," she shot over her shoulder as she went back to the kitchen. Chloe spent the next half hour or so drinking her coffee and chasing sugar granules around the table making shapes as she waited for her food, Chloe both loved and loathed her birthday, on one hand it was good eating and usually a present or two, but the food was the big plus, On the other hand, while not on her birthday, Max had gone missing just days prior and her father died at the beginning of the month, Her father's death while it still had an impact on her, she had dealt with that, she would visit his grave from time to time just to get things off her chest, Max, however, was different, she just vanished without a trace, since then the punk had slowly come to accept she may well be gone for good, but she had to hope, after all as doctors would say, no news is good news.

"Here ya go birthday girl," Joyce said snapping Chloe out of her internal monolog as she placed a large plate with a giant burger, three patties, loads of salad, cheese and extra bacon with more potato wedges than one could realistically eat, "Holy cow mom, I asked for a burger, not the whole cow," Chloe joked as she eyed up the behemoth burger, Joyce just laughed, "I'm sure you will find somewhere to put it all, lord knows you do enough to burn it off," Joyce smiled as she turned to attend the other customers and Chloe started tackling her dinner.

Forty minutes and a valiant effort later Chloe slouched back pushing the plate away in defeat sighing, "What you COULDN'T finish it," Joyce exclaimed surprised, Chloe was nursing her overly full belly with both hands like she was having a baby, "Hey I didn't do too bad, The burger was awesome, though, definitely want that on the menu, just too many potato wedges," she finished covering her mouth as she let out a loud burp that seemed to echo through the diner earning a few appraisals from the other side of the diner, "Excuse me," Chloe muttered as her mom gave her a scalding look, "Not my fault you gave me a food baby, least I know to charge you the child support," Chloe grinned, Joyce sighed chucking, "I suppose that one's on me,..nice save," She said taking Chloe's plate and refilling her coffee mug before turning to go back in the kitchen, "I'm just popping out for a smoke mom," Chloe said as she heaved herself out of the booth, "Don't go anywhere, David will be here soon," Joyce replied as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Outside Chloe perched herself on the window ledge pulling a joint out of her pocket lighting it at taking a deep draw on it, leaning her head against the glass she slowly exhaled letting the fuzzy feeling work it way over her, hearing the sound of a motorcycle she tilted her head towards the road to see the black, pink and white motorcyclist cruising past, "Still looks hella cool," Chloe thought to herself smiling as she took another drag, The sun was already setting as she saw David pull into the parking lot in his car, Chloe stubbed her smoke and waited leaning against the door of the diner as David got out of the car carrying a small box, Chloe grinned to herself already guessing what was inside as David drew nearer, "Skipping training today are we," David said with a knowing look, Chloe shrugged, "Hey it's my birthday, I'm taking a day off...was gonna skip school but didn't," Chloe replied opening the door for her stepfather.

Back in the diner Chloe was sat in her booth with David sat opposite making small talk about school and training, and an upcoming qualifying match in portland, after a short while the lights in the diner dimmed down, Chloe felt herself sink into her seat, she knew what was coming, Joyce came from out back carrying a tray with a cake and candles on it as everyone joined in singing happy birthday, "mom do you have to make a big deal about it," Chloe muttered as Joyce set the cake down, It was a nice cake Chloe had to admit, a pair of boxing gloves with blue and white icing along with a pair of candles in the shape of nineteen slowly burning away on top, Joyce gave an amused sigh, "Yes I do, it's your last year as a bratty teenager so it's worth celebrating," Joyce joked, "heh, I'll always be a bratty teenager mom, I don't think a number is gonna change that," Chloe retorted with a grin, "Well make a wish, I think the other patrons might want to see what there eating" David chuckled gesturing to the candles.

Chloe looked at the candles as the two flames danced next to each other, She thought about her goofy dad and what he'd say, inevitably her thoughts turned to her childhood friend, replaying the last time she spoke to her, she felt the all too familiar guilt rise inside her as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I wish I could say sorry," she thought as she took a breath and blew out the candles, Joyce slide into the booth next to Chloe hugging her as she let out a sigh, "Chloe you need to stop this, it wasn't your fault," she said softly as the lights in the diner went back to normal, "Wasn't it," Chloe murmured as she wiped the collection of tears from her chin, "I was so horrible to her, I told her to fuck off and that she was dead to me,...and for all I know...she might be," The bluenette sobbed as she leaned into her mom, Joyce rubbed Chloe's shoulder, "You had just lost your father Chloe, you were angry and upset, I'm sure she didn't take it to, heart," Joyce tried to comfort, But Chloe just shook her head, "You didn't see the look on her face mom, I thought I was upset,...but she looked crushed, I'm never gonna forget that,..With dad I got to say goodbye, It still hurts but at least I can go see him, she just...vanished," she sobbed quietly into her mother's shoulder, bearly noticing the door to the diner open as a few people left, causing a gentle breeze, The two smoldering candles relit catching Chloe's attention, The bluenette frowned looking at David, "You didn't get those silly relighting candles did you," she asked with a watery smile as she took another breath and blew them out again, this time wetting her fingers and pinching the wicks, "David shook his head, "Nope there just normal candles,"

Chloe found herself pulling up next to the junkyard a few hours later, Leaving her mom and David at the diner, Chloe just wanted some time to herself, If she was angry she would go to the gym and take it out on the punchbags, But she wasn't angry, just feeling shitty so she came here, somewhere she could just smoke and lose herself for a few hours, As she made her way to her usual spot a figure stepped out of the shadows causing her to stop dead in her tracks taking a defensive stance, "Now that's not a good way to greet someone you owe Chloe," A male voice said darkly as the figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a blonde haired rough looking man covered in tattoo's with a blonde goatee, Chloe let out a drawn out sigh but maintained her stance, "one, two, three, four, five plus you, Really Frank," she thought to herself as she counted off the other five young lads cutting off her escape routes, They looked about her age, Three of them were blocking the larger exit, one was waving a small pocket knife about while another seemed to be brandishing something on his knuckles, The third just seemed to hang behind them, The two behind her she couldn't see exactly but she knew they were within striking distance, "Look today's not exactly a good day Frank," Chloe said in a short tone, Frank let out a snort as some of the lads let out amused grunts, "Sorry it's not convenient for you, besides this is just a reminder," "What six of you to remind me, what's wrong Frank, not got the BALLS to deliver a message in person," Chloe snapped interrupting the guy.

Hearing a shuffle behind her Chloe snapped her leg up behind her making contact with one of the lads jaws sending him to the floor as her fist found the other lads abdomen causing him to keel over as the wind was taken out of him, " **HEY** ," Chloe heard a girl's voice call out, snapping her head in the direction of the voice Chloe froze as she felt a sharp blade pressed against her neck, "That's enough outta you," Frank barked, But Chloe wasn't listening instead focused on a short pink haired girl that strolled into view behind the other three lads, She was wearing blue jeans, a black, white and pink biker jacket unzipped revealing a short white tank top which revealed a toned stomach and a pair of heavy looking biker boots, Chloe watched as she crouched down flinging her leg up hitting the lad at the back in the bottom of the jaw sending him crashing into the side of a burnt-out van, before stopping a punch from one of the others with her palm dragging him forwards kneeing him in the gut and then smashing his face against her knee, As he fell she caught the wrist of the knife-wielding lad and had him doubled over face down to the floor arm bent back held by his wrist forcing him to grunt as he dropped the knife, It all happened so fast Chloe could bearly keep up, "She's good," Chloe thought to herself impressed.

"Ya know where I come from six on one isn't exactly fair," The pink haired girl said her tone pointed as she looked up at Frank with a knife pressed against Chloe's neck, "Who the fuck are you," Frank shot sounding a little shaky, Chloe was still staring at the pink haired girl, As close as she was and as clear a night as it was she swore her eyes were playing tricks on her, "Is that red...no pink eyes, they can't be real...cool look though," Chloe thought, Keeping eye contact she could see a fury behind the girls eyes, she had seen that sort of look before in the ring, But this was different it was the sort of look she imagined from films when someone close to the main character was hurt or killed, "She ain't fucking around," Chloe thought as she realized the blade against her neck getting pressed slightly firmer sending a jolt of caution down her spine.

The Pinkette looked Frank head on, "Not important,"

* * *

 **Hmmm...nope keeping it zipped**

 **until tomorrow ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**So here's the next one**

 **enjoy**

* * *

 **Homeward bound**

 **March 2013**

Max was begrudgingly pulled out of her sleep by the alarm on her phone, silencing the intrusive noise she groggily sat up stretching as she checked her phone, 09:00 am, March 13, "Happy birthday Chlo," she thought as she forced herself out of bed, The B&B she or rather Kelly, had spent the last two night in was pleasant enough, But it was her last stop before finally going home to Arcadia Bay, She had taken Pauls advice of not going to see her parents, Instead going from town to town and finding the more questionable establishments and entering any unofficial fight where there was a cash prize for winning, Turned out finding them wasn't too difficult, And due to her size she was often underestimated, not that many of the fights were much of a challenge compared to her four years of hell, And there was always a nice hot bath and a comfy bed afterwards, The money had allowed her to slowly replenish the money she had spent from her ten grand kickstart, Along with paying for B&B's, clothes and some other things.

After having a shower Max hummed to herself as she set about getting ready to leave, A black sports bra, white tank top, and blue jeans, followed up with a pair of black biker boots, Max made sure she had everything packed into her black duffle bag before checking herself in the mirror, Wavy pink shoulder length hair down to her shoulders with a pair of bright pink eyes stared back at her, Paul had said to change her appearance, So after spending a month moving from town to town Max had decided for a drastic change, Buying herself some colored contacts and hair dye, she had come to like the look so much she sought out something a little more permanent seeing as contacts weren't exactly great for her lifestyle, So she decided on Corneal tattoo's, a little pricey and with an element of risk, Max hadn't skimped on making absolutely sure it was done right the first time seeking out one of the few medical establishments that were well known for said procedure, Only being able to have one eye done at a time, Waiting nearly three months from start to finish wasn't just a bore but frustrating as she wanted to see the end result, But not having anything else to do except lay low meant she had the time, And since it was done she hadn't regretted it for one second.

Grabbing her helmet she slung her duffel bag over her shoulder, left the room with a final glance around to make sure she didn't forget anything and went downstairs to get her breakfast before leaving, Breakfast was as usual good, bacon and eggs with some toast washed down with a decent mug of coffee, As she ate she noticed one or two of the guests at other tables kept looking over at her, She would just smile back at them, knowing it was probably a combination of her hair and eyes they were looking at, "Excuse me miss," a young girl's voice came from behind her, Turning Max saw a young girl, about twelve years old with ginger hair in a ponytail standing a few feet from her, Max tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear smiling, "what's up," she asked in a friendly voice, The young girl looked back towards her parents and then back to Max looking a little unsure of herself, Max let out a small chuckle, "I don't bite, honest," she said reassuringly, The young girl visibly blushed, "umm,..why do you have pink eyes," she mumbled looking away, Max grinned, it wasn't the first time she had been asked, and it probably wasn't going to be the last, "Well," Max said as she turned to rummage around in her duffle bag, "A few months ago I decided to try a new look, did a lot of experimenting,..aha, there you are," she proclaimed pulling out a box of disposable contact lenses and handing them to the girl, "At first I used these, All they do is change the color, But I don't need them anymore so you can have them, best ask ya parents for permission and help though, And I wouldn't wear them to school," she said smiling, The young girls face lit up as she took the box off Max saying thank you and glancing over to her parents who were just smiling before turning back to Max confused, "But don't you need them," she asked, Max shook her head and shrugged, "I wanted something more permanent, So I got corneal tattoo's to change the color," she said smiling, She heard a gasp from the girls parents who looked at her with surprised looks, Smiling Max got up and ushered the young girl back to her parents as she followed, "Hi I'm Kelly," Max said holding her hand out to the father, "pleased to meet you, I'm Tom and this is Cindy my wife, and you've already met Rebecca," Tom replied in a friendly manner, gesturing to the woman sat next to him and their daughter, "Corneal tattoo's," Cindy asked inquisitively, Max nodded, "Whats that," Rebecca questioned looking at her father, "well pumpkin, you know daddy has a tattoo," Tom said pointing to a heart and scroll with Cindy and Rebecca written on it on his forearm, The young girl nodded, "Well it's similar to that accept on your eyes I believe," he finished looking to Max for confirmation, Max nodded, "more or less, just takes a lot longer as they can only do one eye at a time, one eye is shut for two weeks while it heals up, But it worked out better in the long run for what I do, and unlike normal tattoo's there is a chance its not permanent, it may just fade back to the original color," Max finished hoping her answer would satisfy most questions.

"What do you do," Cindy asked seeing her daughters interest, Max thought for a moment looking at the young girl and back to her mother, "It's not for everyone, But I'm a kickboxer, hence having to take out contacts every five minutes was a little bit of a pain in the..." Max stopped herself remembering there was a young girl next to her, Tom just chuckled as he clearly knew what Max was going to say, "you mean fight, you fight other people," Rebecca asked sounding a little alarmed, "Aren't you a little...small," she finished her voice trailing as she looked down at her hands, Max smiled and knelt down next to the girl looking up at her, "Doesn't matter how small you are, All that matters is having something to fight for,..Not necessarily fighting, But something you REALLY REALLY want, you could fight with words or pictures, what you choose to fight with is irrelevant, so long as you have something to work towards," Max replied smiling, as she rubbed the young girl's shoulder reassuringly.

After finishing up her conversation with the family she said her goodbyes and paid her final bill, walking outside she zipped up her white, black and pink biker jacket, adjusted her duffle bag and walked over to her 250RTC motorcycle, It may have been second hand but it was her baby, custom black, and white with a single pink stripe separating the two other colours, getting it shortly after release Max had found it for sale for less than $400 due to the engine being seized, She had it put into a repair shop that also did resprays, and while it was getting done up she set about an intensive course passing within two weeks, Strapping on her helmet that matched the bikes paint job she put the key in and kicked the machine to life with a roar, smiling to herself she swung her leg over and after doing her final checks pulled out onto the road and sped off towards Arcadia Bay.

After a few hours Max found herself back in Arcadia Bay, everything was pretty much how she remembered it, The lighthouse overlooking the bay, Blackwell dominating the landscape as the most obvious landmark, Cruising around she found the Prices residence with ease, Shutting off her bike and running up to the door tugging her helmet off she knocked on the door and waited, After a minute she checked her watch, 15:20 pm, "I guess there all out or sommin," she sighed to herself as she jammed her helmet back on in frustration and went back to her bike.

Deciding to just cruise around for a bit, Max already knew what she was looking for, A blue haired girl, Facebook was great like that, She had thought about going into the two whales, But then thought better of it, Joyce would go into hysterics and Max needed to keep low, So the best bet would be to say hi at their home, That way Joyce could have a meltdown and she would get a chance to explain shit without drawing unwanted attention, Paul had already approved, provided she stayed out of social media it shouldn't be an issue, Pulling up at the lights alongside a beat-up old truck Max was in a world of her own as looked towards the two whales she saw a banner in the window with a happy birthday written on it, "Well shit," Max thought to herself knowing full well it was meant for Chloe, As the light went green Max hit the throttle, the sudden burst of power causing the front wheel to lift slightly for a moment as she zipped off the lights hearing a few honks behind her, She didn't care tough as she just grinned to herself.

Max spent the next few hours just cruising, stopping to fill up at a gas station, Not that her bike used a lot but she hadn't filled up for a few days and the trip to Arcadia had eaten most of the tank, Max grinned to herself as she filled the tank, imagining some sort of gremlin type thing in her tank drinking all the petrol, Grabbing a sandwich and a bottle of water she paid the cashier and set off again, It was sunset now, so Max took one final pass of the two whales to see a blue haired girl sat on the window ledge smoking, Max smiled to herself, she couldn't be 100% sure, But it sure looked like the girl from her facebook profile, She almost stopped then and there to rush over to the girl, But decided it would be better to wait till they were home, too public for an 'Oh hey I'm not dead I was kidnapped and forced to fight for entertainment for four years' Yeah that wouldn't exactly be something that would go unnoticed, particularly her name, Maxine Caulfield had to stay buried, at least for now.

A few hours later Max had found herself in a junkyard, completely deserted and full of old cars, appliances, and other junk, Max had made her way on top of a beaten old yellow school bus and sat down to have her sandwich and drink as she took in the view, She had to admit there was a kind of an otherworldly feel to the place as the moonlight cast various shadows between the wrecks, On the far side of the yard she spotted an old boat, She thought back to the times her and Chloe used to play pirates, "heh, the boats grounded captain Price," Max thought to herself smiling at the memory.

* * *

 **Now raise your hand if you thought the pink haired girl wasn't Max...If your under 9 lower your hand**

 **Don't hate me, Next one picks up from where the last one left off...unless I come up with a filler just to...nah I won't do that to you lot...maybe :P**

 **Comments/reviews welcome**

 **stay happy**


	16. Chapter 16

**Is this the one you all been waiting for...Maaaybe**

* * *

 **Party crasher**

Staring up at the cloudless night, Just enjoying the view, Max found that she had spent many a night doing just this since her escape, Maybe she was making up for lost time, In all honestly though she was just enjoying being free, free to do what she wanted, where she wanted, well more or less, at least she got to choose what and where to eat and where to sleep, although she couldn't go around being herself, not completely anyways, There was still a sword over her's her family's and Paul and his families head, But hopefully being so far away she could at least get a small part of her life back...right, That was her reasoning for deciding to finally track down Chloe, five years and her drive was as strong today as it was when she left home so long ago, She still hated her mother, blamed her even, but part of her thanked her, odd as it was, while not ideal the whole experience and made her much more confident, able to take care of herself and a damn sight stronger, "heh, like to see you try and hit me now mom," Max snorted her herself as she imagined her mom's reaction if she tried to strike her now, but to hell with her, Her dad, on the other hand, she understood why he left, she got it, she just wished he had taken her with him, But then she wouldn't be here in Arcadia right now the woman she was, sighing she retrieved her phone from her pocket and checking the time, 20:35 pm, deciding that now was as good a time as any she stood up on the back of the old bus, hoisted her duffel bag on one shoulder, picked up her helmet and jumped off the bus.

Walking back through the junkyard Max spotted a few figures walking ahead, shrugging she just ignored them putting it down to good timing to move on anyways, she could hear someone talking but couldn't make out much, It was a male voice that was certain, shrugging again she was about to just walk off until she heard a name, "you owe Chloe," the male voice said causing Max to freeze to the spot, "Chloe,".

Doubling back quietly Max quickly found the figures she had seen before, they appeared to be sorta standing guard, One had a small knife, Another was wearing a glove or knuckle duster of some sort, looked like it had a point or something on it, The one closest to her didn't seem too intimidating he almost seemed to be hiding behind the other two, Looking through the cars she saw a blue haired girl face to face with a slightly taller blonde haired scruffy looking guy, and behind her were two other lads, Chloe's stance told Max everything she needed to know, She was defensive, whatever this was it wasn't good, Moving as close as she could without getting spotted Max set her duffle bag and helmet down and waited just behind a wrecked blue car, straining her ears so she could hear what was going on,"Look today's not exactly a good day Frank," Chloe said in a short tone, Frank let out a snort as some of the lads let out amused grunts, "Sorry it's not convenient for you, besides this is just a reminder," "What six of you to remind me, what's wrong Frank, not got the BALLS to deliver a message in person," Chloe snapped interrupting the guy. "Chloe such a potty mouth," Max giggled internally.

Max saw one of the lads behind Chloe shuffle slightly and almost instantly she watched as Chloe snapped a kick into the lads jaw and throw a punch into the other lads gut before the first hit the floor, seeing the three in front of her start to move Max stepped out from her hiding spot, " **Hey** ," she shouted getting their attention, the closest lad turned to her taking a swing, ducking down Max snapped her leg up bringing her boot to the underside of the lads jaw causing him to leave the floor slightly as he crumpled into the side of a van, glancing towards Chloe she caught sight of the blade against her friends throat, A jolt of fear and anger spurred through her as other two lads closed in on her, The lad with the knuckleduster type thing swung first, Max caught the punch in the palm of her hand, a shot of pain screamed up her arm as she felt a sharp object pierce into her hand, letting the pain add to her anger she gripped the lads fist yanking him forwards and driving her knee into his gut before quickly grabbing his head and slamming it down on the same knee with a satisfying crunch as he stumbled backwards, Before he hit the ground the third lad took a swing with his knife hand, grabbing his wrist in her injured hand she swung him around changing hands, twisting his arm and forced him to double over, applying a little more pressure to his arm she encouraged him to drop the knife with a groan.

Glancing to make sure the other two were in no fit state to get up she gripped the lads shoulder a little tighter, not to stop him from breaking free, but to help stem the blood she could feel leaving her hand, "ya know where I come from six on one isn't exactly fair," Max said in a pointed tone looking at Frank who held a knife to her friends throat, "Who the fuck are you," Frank replied a little shaky, For a fleeting moment Max felt slightly amused at the 'tough' guys expression as he spoke, but that faded as she saw him press the knife a little firmer and Chloe's expression changed slightly in response, Max could feel the anger turning to fury inside her, "I swear I'll kill him if he does," Max thought narrowing her eyes at him, hearing the young man under her hold let out a whimper she realized she was applying far more pressure than she needed, but she wasn't about to break anything yet so she let him whimper, "Not important," she shot flatly trying to keep her temper in check, "Don't give him a reason to Max," she thought to herself, "Let's see if we can't sort this out, first things first," she thought to herself, "What do you want with her," she said sharply, "Please don't recognize me not yet Chlo," Max thought to herself

"Not that its any of your business but she owes me," Frank replied through gritted teeth, Hearing his response Max quickly summarised he was after money, "Ok I can work with that," she thought as she studied Chloe's expression, She could feel Chloe's gaze on her as her expression went from admiration to confusion, "How much," Max asked firmly, shifting her gaze back to the Frank, Max felt Frank narrow his eyes on her, "Three grand plus interest, Why you gonna pay it," he said sounding a little intrigued, Max thought for a moment, "plus interest, usually that means lenders fee or arbitrary number, hmm judging by the shitbags he has as...higherd help probably, judging by their age, bought with drugs so small time dealer then, dealt with a few of those in the past," Max thought to herself, "Thirty-three hundred, And that's the end of it?" Max asked flatly, glancing back at Chloe as she looked like she was about to say something Max gave a slight shake of her head before returning her gaze to Frank, Frank snorted, "Yeah sure if you got it," his tone almost challenging.

Max was honestly expecting to haggle, or for him to drive the price up but whatever, easing the pressure on the lads arm she brought his head up to hers, "Ok now listen to me, I'm here to live a quiet life, so sending you to hospital is not something I actually want to do, You see this car," Max spoke calmly nodding to the car next to them, The young lad nodded quickly, "Behind it you will find my duffle bag and crash helmet, bring them both to me, do not go through the bag and don't try anything or else you will end up visiting the hospital to have your arm removed from your ass, understood," Max finished threateningly giving the lads arm a slight twist causing him to whimper as he nodded eagerly, Max released the young lad who immediately turned around to face Max his expression terrified as he nursed his arm before running behind the car Max had signaled and returned with her duffle bag and helmet placing them next to her and backing off a safe distance wearily.

Kneeling down Max quickly rummaged around in the bottom of her duffle bag keeping an eye on the young man and passing a quick glance at Frank, Finding her money she quickly counted off thirty-three $100 dollar bills while keeping the rest in the bag so no one else could see it, "The last thing I need is him trying to take it all, I still have things to do, But I'm sure D and Rach will understand," she thought to herself zipping up her bag she stood up handing the roll of cash out to the young man, Hesitantly he took it and walked over to Frank counting it, Nodding he handed the cash to Frank, Frank seemed to be eyeing up Max's duffle bag and then Max.

Max took a step forwards in front of her bag, "You got your money now let her go," Max demanded, making sure there was threat to her tone, as she imagined Frank trying to figure out what else she had in there, After a moment Frank withdrew his knife from Chloe's throat giving her a shove and snatching the cash out of the other lads hand and casually walked off, "we're square now Frank right," Chloe barked after him, Frank stopped and turned slightly, "Yeah we're square, but I ain't lending you again, no more free handouts, Don't bother showing up without any cash anymore," he replied flatly as he turned again and disappeared into the night.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Max picked up her duffle bag with her good hand and hoisted it onto her shoulder before picking up her helmet, cradling her hand against her chest she motioned Chloe to follow as she walked out of the junkyard towards her bike with Chloe following behind, wanting to put some distance between herself and the group of lads on the floor, Not that they were a threat but her hand hurt so she needed some decent light to sort it out, And she didn't want the big reveal to be within earshot of unfriendly ears.

At her bike, Max was thankful she parked it under a streetlight, hooking her helmet on the handlebar she dropped her bag on the floor and opened one of the zip pockets pulling out a small first aid kit, Inspecting the damage of her blood covered hand, a deep slice in the palm of her hand along with two small holes either side, grabbing the half bottle of water she had bought earlier she rinsed the worst of the blood off, She heard Chloe walk up beside her and kneel down gasping slightly at the sight of her hand, "Do..do you want a hand," Chloe asked sounding unsure, Max nodded handing her the medical wipe and tape, The two sat in an uneasy silence as Chloe set about cleaning up Max's hand and taping it up, Giving her hand a flex to stretch the tape in Max winced slightly, "look,..err thank you for,..ya know helping me out back there, But ya didn't have to pay the guy," Chloe said appreciatively looking down at her hands, Max looked up at Chloe and let out a gentle sigh, "Like I'm gonna stand by and not help out my best friend,...Chlo," Max replied smiling gently giving her nose a little scrunch, Chloe snapped her head up to face her as Max deliberately used her childhood pet name, looking at her slightly confused, Max felt Chloe's eyes searching hers as she felt her heart start to race, Max swallowed nervously, "I know,...the eyes are a bit different," Max said quietly unable to keep the grin off her face, Chloe's expression seemed to snap from confusion to realization in an instant, "MA.." Max placed a finger over Chloe's lips silencing the surprised bluenette before she could finish, "It's Kelly,...But yes Chlo, I'm home, and I swear to dog I'm never leaving you again," Max whispered quietly.

Chloe seemed confused again as her eyes began to well, Max could feel Chloe begin to tremble as she nodded slowly, Seeing Chloe's eyes begin to well Max quickly turned away feeling her own beginning to well, "Chlo, please,..if you start I'll start,...can we...just get back to yours first," Max managed to force out, holding back her emotions.

* * *

 **Ok so another cliffhanger...well an emotional one anyways, release of future chapters might start to slow down a little (2-3 days) But the next one is about half done. I actually have 4 or 5 events that I have planned, One of them for a certain upcoming date, if I can work it in. Buuut I ain't saying no more ;)**

 **I'd like to thank everyone that's made comments/reviews so far, There the ultimate pick me up in the mornings and, I ain't gonna lie, I actually get a rush when I see mail in my fanfic folder in my inbox each morning, so again a big thank you.**

 **Comments and reviews welcome**

 **stay happy**


	17. Chapter 17

**So one reader had some good foresight**

Aesahethr chapter 15 . Jan 20

Damn you're killing me with the suspense here

That being said I like that chapter, it went over the necessary information without spending too much time on the travel back, and the interactions with the family was a cute addition, I like those kind of moments.

Still, pretty eager to finally get **reunion** xD

 **That's some bloody crystal ball shit right there :D (The chapter was half written and TITLED before the review)**

 **And this is the one many of you have been waiting for.**

 **Feels train incoming (hopefully)  
**

* * *

 **Reunion**

Following Chloe's truck home, Max parked up alongside Chloe in her driveway, After retrieving her Dufflebag from the back of the truck she followed Chloe into the house dropping her Dufflebag and helmet in the hallway as she stared down the hallway into the dining area of her second childhood home, She recalled her and Chloe painting, making dens out of bedding, curling up on the sofa watching films, making pancakes, The memories hit her like an emotional wrecking ball, her legs giving out from under her as she collapsed to her knee's sobbing uncontrollably, "I'm home...I'm finally home," she sobbed as Chloe knelt down beside her enveloping the Pinkette in a hug, "I've missed you so much,...I,...we thought you were...but your not,...your here your really here," she sobbed back.

"What an earth, Chloe what's wrong,...who's this," Joyce said sympathetically as she came into the hallway from the living room, a little taken back by the sight of the two brightly colored haired girls in a heap in her hallway, Chloe shuffled slightly to one side so not to block her mom's view of the pinkette while wiping her blotchy face, "mom,..it's," "hi Joyce," Max bubbled with a watery smile as she shakily got to her feet with Chloe's help, "Mom, it's Max,..she's alive," Chloe cried burying her face into Max's shoulder sobbing again.

Joyce stood in shock, color draining from her face as thought she had seen a ghost as her face fell, "Max,...oh my god,... **you're alive** ," Joyce shrieked as she flung herself down the hallway wrapping her arms around both girls tightly as all three sobbed.

Taking a step back Joyce looked Max up and down smiling as she tucked a strand of Max's pink hair behind her ear, "All grown up,...I like the hair," she chuckled wiping her face as Max looked up at her with a watery smile of her own, "Your mother and father are going to be ecstatic..." "NO" Max shot flatly shaking her head, causing Joyce to jump slightly and Chloe to stiffen next to her, "Sorry, but no one else can know...not yet anyways," she hurriedly continued seeing the confusion on Joyce's face, "I'm sorry I should have stayed away, but,...I had to see you," Max balled again, turning and burying her face into the bluenette's chest.

Taking Max's hands in her own and resting her forehead on Max's, Chloe let out a gentle sigh, "Max...whatever's going on, we'll sort it ok," she said softly gently squeezing Max's hands causing the pinkette to winch pulling her bandaged hand back slightly, Joyce took a step towards the girls taking Max's bandaged hand and turning it over to reveal a heavily bloodied bandage, with a worried look she sighed, "Ok, I'll make a pot of coffee, and dig out the first aid kit to clean that up, And then in your own time Max ok," she said giving the Pinkett's shoulder a rub as she turned to go into the kitchen.

After taking Max's jacket and hanging it, Chloe led Max into the living room with Max cradling her hand against her chest, "You girls alright," David said from the couch as the two girls entered the living room, "oh hi David, er this is ...," "Max, I heard, pleased to meet you safe and sound," David finished Chloe's sentence with a smile, "David owns the gym where I train, He actually introduced me to kickboxing about a month after you...disappeared," Chloe said a little enthusiastically as she gently squeezed Max's shoulder, "pleased to meet you," Max said wiping her face again as the two sat down, Max let out an amused chuckle causing Chloe to frown, "What's funny?" Chloe asked slightly confused.

Max shook her head slightly grinning as she started picking the bandaging off her hand, "I started learning about the same time," Max said with a shrug, then looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a moment, "Actually it was three weeks after I...dissapeared, more or less," she corrected herself, "you two always were alike," Joyce said as she walked into the living room with a tray holding a Coffee pot, two mugs, milk, sugar and a first aid kit, placing it on the coffee table, "Brightly colored hair and fighting,.. You ain't got any hidden tattoos have ya," Joyce chuckled looking inquisitively at Max, Max blushed as she looked over at Chloe's sleeve tattoo on her arm now visible as the blue haired girl had taken her jacket off, "Common you have to show me, Max," Chloe exclaimed seeing Max blush as she eyed up her tattoo, Max couldn't help but grin, "There you've all seen em," Max said playfully as she rolled her eyes only to receive confused looks from all three, Max gave a little snicker, "Sorry this is a little amusing, I'll give you a hint," Max said with a grin as she turned to look Chloe in the eyes, "your looking right at them,", Chloe's eyes roamed over the pinkette in confusion coming to rest on Max's eye's, Her confusion fading as her eyes went wide, "No fucking way," she exclaimed in disbelief, Max grinned at Chloe's reaction giving a slight nod, "Chloe, language,...I still don't see it," Joyce replied still puzzled, "Mom, it's her eyes, she got her fucking eyeballs tattooed," Chloe stated excitedly as she moved closer to get a better look, "what,...I thought they were just contacts," Joyce replied moving to get a better look herself, David just sighed, "What an earth possess people to get tattoo's I'll never understand,", "Isn't that kind of thing...dangerous," Joyce asked still slightly shocked, Max gave a little shrug, "A little, It's also expensive, uncomfortable while healing, and takes a long time, about three weeks per eye," Max replied returning to unbandaging her hand, Kneeling in front of Max Joyce turned her attention to finish unwrapping Max's hand inspecting the wound's, The next twenty minutes the conversation revolved around the how and why of Max's eyes as well as a recap of the evening's events in the junkyard.

"Well you have my thanks for stepping in Max, And I will personally pay you back," Joyce said as she inspected the surgical glue sealing Max's wound shut, Max shook her head, "Don't be silly Joyce, I didn't do it expecting to be repaid" Max objected flatly, "It's not about the money Max, This coulda been a lot worse," Joyce replied hotly, "And if I hadn't have stepped in it could have been FAR worse," Max insisted as she shook off the thought of Frank holding a knife to Chloe's throat, Glancing over and seeing her blue haired friend swallow she could see she was thinking the same thing.

Grabbing a Mug of coffee from the coffee table, Max added a little sugar and gave it a stir before taking a mouthful enjoying the hot liquid before noticing the Prices looking at her expectantly, Placing her Mug back on the table she sat back into the sofa thinking, "How's my dad," Max asked looking at Joyce, Joyce gave Max a pained frown, "Max,.I'm sorry, but your mum and dad split, Just over four years ago," She said apologetically, "oh" Max mumbled, She wasn't really surprised, or rather she had half expected it, at least she didn't have to see her mother at the same time as her dad, "After you...left, Your mom and dad had a row and your dad moved out," "WHAT," Max snapped interrupting Joyce, Max clenched her fist as a rush of anger surged through her causing her to shake a little, "Are you saying...Did she say they had a row and dad moved out AFTER I left" Max said trying to keep her anger at bay, Joyce nodded slowly, "your mom said that you just disappeared one night, thought you might be coming here, After that we didn't speak much...at all, to be honest, poor thing must have been devastated," Joyce replied sorrowfully.

"And that's all she said, nothing about before that," Max said getting to her feet as walked across the room to the sliding doors staring out her fists clenched at her sides, "Pretty much, and apparently you had a bit of trouble settling at your new school, but that was,..." "BITCH," Max shot through gritted teeth as she slammed her fist into the wall next to the glass doors cracking the plaster as her body shook in anger, "MAX," Chloe gasped jumping up from the sofa walking up behind the angry Pinkette stopping a few feet behind her, Joyce and David looking on shocked, "Even when I'm missing,...possibly DEAD," Max spat slamming her fist into the wall again, "Max,...I know your upset," "No Chloe, I'm not upset, I'm fucking furious," Max shot interrupting Chloe as she turned and stormed past her to the hallway, Retrieving a joint and lighter from her Jacket she went back into the diner, past Chloe and slung the sliding doors open and stormed outside.

"Why did she fucking lie," Max thought to herself as she sat on the old swing and lit her joint inhaling a deep lungful, "I fucking hate you," Max mumbled as she let the white smoke leave her mouth, "oh right umm," Chloe muttered as she approached Max across the grass, Max glanced at Chloe giving a weary sigh, "Sorry Chloe I don't mean you," Max replied apologetically, "look can you gimme five to cool off, I don't wanna blow up at you," Max sighed as she took another hit, "It's cool, was actually gonna join you," Chloe said with a smirk as she lit up her own joint, Max gave a small smile, "Ya know, it's bad etiquette to not share," Chloe said grin as she exhaled her own cloud of white smoke, Max gave a small nod, "If I had known I woulda offered, There in my jacket," Max replied taking a hit and staring up at the night sky, "Oh I know, where ya think I got this from," Chloe replied grinning, Max glanced over at Chloe with a grin, "Dork,", "Wow not heard that in a while," Chloe snorted, choking slightly as she inhaled.

After finishing there smokes the girls returned in doors, David was sat not looking impressed, While Joyce looked worriedly at Max, Glancing at the crack in the wall Max scolded herself for letting her anger get the better of her, "Sorry about that, I'll pay whatever to get it fixed," Max said sheepishly looking down at her hands, "I'm not worried about that Max, are you ok," Joyce asked softly, Max gave a nod as she crossed the room to retrieve her coffee taking a mouthful of the luke warm liquid, "I'm calmer now,...I just don't get why she lied," Max said as she sat next to the sofa leaning against it, Joyce let out a sigh as Chloe sat next to Max with her own coffee, "Why don't you tell us what happened then, least we will be on the same page then," Chloe said caringly as she placed a hand on Max's knee gently rubbing it.

Max felt herself blush a little and hoped that the cold of the night would mask it as she let out a sigh, "I guess it started just after we moved, Mom would get wound up about the stupidest things, heh, I left a dish in my room, she went off the deep end, It was just little things at first, I thought it was just the stress of moving so didn't really pay it much attention," Max paused taking another mouthful of coffee, "Then about a week later the phone line was activated, admittedly I was bouncing off the walls a little, because it meant I could phone you," Max grinned at Chloe before continuing, "Mom on the other hand flipped and ripped the phone out of the wall and burnt my diary," "WHAT," Joyce and Chloe snapped in surprise, Max just shrugged, "I don't know why, After that dad got me a mobile which I kept hidden from mom, however, I didn't have your number, When mom was out I tried to find her diary but for all I know she got rid of that too, 'sigh' So I decided to come visit you, planned a bus trip, was going to use my savings to come down on the Friday and go home on the Sunday, only...mom came home early as I was about to leave, big argument and I ended up with a black eye," "No," Joyce said looking at Max in shock, "Your not lying are you," "MOM," Chloe shot at Joyce in objection, Max raised her hand to silence Chloe, "It's ok Chlo, No Joyce I'm not lying, I thought at the time that it was an accident, ya know things just getting out of hand and that after a few days she would apologise,...but she never did," Max said slumping her shoulders as she traced her finger around the rim of her mug, "She told dad I caught it on a coat hook, After that I tried again, Got to the bus station this time, Dad was there to take me back home, We had a big argument, mom made a remark about leaving Arcadia Bay sooner, few words were said I went to my room, woke up the next day with dad gone, he'd moved out in the night," Max looked at Joyce to see Joyce's expression apologetic and confused, "The next few days mom found my phone, took that off me, and basically policed everything I did, frog marched to and from school and confined to my room, At the end of the week I ran away again, and actually succeeded this time, early hours of the morning I was walking down the highway to Arcadia Bay when it...happened," Max said flatly gripping her fist into a ball as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Max, If I had known," Joyce said sympathetically joining the pinkette on the floor hugging her, "I would have come and got you, you coulda stayed here," Max leaned into Joyce as she wiped the tear from her face, "I was actually kinda hoping that at the time,...I just never made it," Max muttered, Chloe scooched a little closer to Max putting her arm around her, "What happened Max," she asked softly, Max let out a sigh as she wiped another tear from her cheek, "I was abducted,"

After a few hours, Tear's, gasps and more tears, Max had finished telling her tale of her four-year imprisonment when David stood up, "I'm gonna call the police," he said as he started walking across the living room, "NO" Max shouted leaping over the sofa and snatching the phone before David could reach it, "Max, what they did to you,.." "I know, I know,...But if Maxine Caulfield suddenly comes back from the dead, Then they will know Paul helped me, then he, Rachel and Diana could very well end up dead,...Not to mention Dad and you guys,...I wouldn't be able to live with that," Max interjected looking David straight in the eye, David stood there for a moment as he seemed to be processing what the pinkette had just said before rubbing his temple and sighing, "I guess...ya gotta point there," he said defeatedly as he wandered into the kitchen filling the kettle up and turning it on.

"So what we gonna do then," Chloe asked getting to her feet stretching, "Chloe I can't ask you," "Don't even try Max, Like I'm gonna stand by and not help out my best friend," Chloe interrupted Max as she stood there with her arms folded wearing a smirk, Max stared at her for a moment realizing Chloe had just used her own words against her and grinned, shaking her head a little Max let out a chuckle, "Fair point well made,...At the moment not a lot, I'm going on the plan of buying Rachel and Diana out, Or rather have them buy themselves out, I just gotta get the difference to them through Paul, Once there out I have a folder with everything in it that I'll be handing to the feds and then, I guess we all just lay low until Sean Prescott is behind bars," Max finished calmly as she replaced the phone on its stand and went to walk back to the sofa stopping short seeing Chloe's face contorted, "Prescott,".

* * *

 **So that's that, think I got the feels about right, hit or miss?**

 **Don't worry I ain't forgotten Chloe's guilt yet either, She just had two bombs dropped on her give her half a chance.**

 **next chapter is on the way, more expo and some other stuff (fluff with be coming in the future, soonish.) But in the mean, time there is another fight coming, along with more drama, memory lane**

 **Comments and reviews welcome**

 **Stay happy**


	18. Chapter 18

**The Prescott connection**

It was warm and sunny with a gentle cool breeze as Max and Chloe were sat in the parking lot of Blackwell in Chloe's truck, Max was admiring the old building of Blackwell, imagining life as a student that she was robbed of, Sharing classes with Chloe and getting up to mischief like they used to, "Guess there's always university, after this shits over," she thought to herself looking at the group of students doing tricks on their skateboards laughing at one who ended up on his ass. "There he is," Chloe said tapping Max on the leg bringing her out of the daydream, Looking in the direction Chloe was pointing Max saw a tallish lad, wearing a red coat, blue jeans and brown swept hair tapping away on his phone, "You SURE you want to do this Ma...Kelly," Chloe said quietly correcting herself, Looking up at the bluenette seeing her worried expression Max gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "Chlo, I have to know, If he really doesn't have anything to do with his dad, then it's one less thing to worry about, If he does...then I have to be extra careful, It'll be ok," she said reassuringly.

Max watched as Chloe let out a sigh and got out of the truck jogging to catch Nathan up and started talking to him, At first he looked a little jumpy but seemed to relax a little as Chloe offered him something, A joint Max assumed, She watched as the two walked over by a big birch tree and sat down in the shade chatting away as they sparked up there smokes, Nathan seemed a little on edge about something but at the same time both of them seemed to be laughing, "Maybe there just high," Max grinned to herself seeing a dark skinned lady with black curly hair together with a tallish teacher with a goatee looking at the two from across the grounds for a moment before disappearing inside talking to pair of students.

After about ten minutes there was a bleep on Max's phone, taking it out of her pocket she checked it.

Chloe: Hey pinky, its cool, ya comin over

Kelly: Yeah omw...pinky REALLY

Chloe: It's accurate

Kelly: should I call you bluey

Chloe: doesnt really sound right

Kelly: I'll make it work :P

Chloe: emojis REALLY

Kelly: :D

chuckling Max put her phone back in her pocket and jumped out of the truck shutting the door and walked towards the two sat under the tree, "I can see why you'd be **OW"** Nathan yelped as Chloe punched him in the shoulder giving him a stare, Max frowned at the situation looking at Chloe but shrugged it off, "Hi, I'm Kelly," Max said taking a seat next to Chloe, "Nathan, but ya already know that," Nathan replied in a friendly manner, "So I hear there's a fan club of people that don't like my father," he added jokingly, "I assume he's not liked much around here then," Max asked cautiously, Nathan snorted, "I dunno about anyone else to be honest, But the clubs at three so far,...Though my reasons are...complicated," he said sounding disgusted as he looked around worriedly, Max caught a glimpse of Nathan's worried look, frowning for a second, "He...ain't around is he," Max asked nervously mentally crossing her fingers, Nathan shook his head "Hope not, Ain't seen him in nearly five years, in all honesty I could go the rest of my life without seeing him, I know he has 'someone' keeping an eye on me supposedly, Just so I keep my mouth shut about...stuff," His voice going into a mild panic as he finished his sentence glancing around wildly, Max felt her body begin to shake as a memory flashed before her, bright lights, the taste of iron in her mouth, a cheering crowd and a terrified young man, "Holy shit," Max muttered as she scrambled backwards away from a startled Chloe and Nathan, "M,..Kelly what's wrong," Chloe asked concerned crawling in front of Max her hands on her shoulders looking at her worried, "Chloe,...he was there, in the ring, My first fight...he was there," Max stammered as she began to panic.

Chloe glanced back at a confused looking Nathan and chuckled a little, "Kelly, Not quite what I imagined a body builder figure with tats and a missing ear to look like," she said as she watched the color drain from Nathans' face as he went rigid, Chloe frowned looking at Max and back to Nathan and back to Max as the two stared at each other, "umm, I'm missing somin," Chloe muttered, "Sorry Chlo I gotta go,...this was a mistake," Max said quickly getting to her feet and starting to sprint away, "MAX," Nathan gasped causing Max to freeze mid-stride.

Max found herself paralyzed by Nathans use of her name, as images of that night flashed before her along with Rachel and Diana, badly beaten and being buried, "Fuck, sorry Chlo, it's not safe, I gotta go," Max muttered as she shook the disturbing images from her head only to feel the bluenette behind her hugging her, "Nathan you better start talking right now," There was a steel on the bluenette's words that caught the pinkette off guard, she was angry.

"It is...it is you," Nathan whispered hopefully as he crawled forwards a few paces toward the two girls, Max found herself unable to move, let alone respond, her heart was racing as she struggled to regain control of her body as she felt Chloe give a small nod, Nathan let out a relieved sigh, "Oh thank god," he said in relief, The relief in Nathans' voice snapped Max out of her paralysis as she separated herself from Chloe slightly turning to face the brown haired lad still on his knee's looking up at her, "Ma,...Kelly, Please don't paint me with the same brush as my father, I didn't even want to be there," he pleaded as he shifted so he was sat down, Chloe's eyes went wide as she recalled Max's story from the night before, "Oh my god, your the lad that..." "Yeah ok, no need for details," Nathan held his hand up to a snickering Chloe, "Chloe," Max pleaded grinning slightly at Chloe's amusement, "Sorry, I honestly thought you made that bit up," Chloe snickered, "It's true ok, I had just witnessed her beating the shit outta a guy that looked like he belonged in a wrestling ring and rip his ear off then she's charging right at me covered in blood,...So yeah I was scared shitless," Nathan admitted with a slight smile, "More like scared piss.." Max placed her hand over Chloe's mouth getting a disgruntled humph from the bluenette.

"Look the truth is, My dad wanted to get me in on his 'Business venture', That was the first and last time I ever saw anything to do with it, Told my dad, he made me sick and I wanted nothing to do with him, Only reason I ain't got far away yet is so I can finish up here," Nathan explained gesturing at the surrounding campus, Max took a step forwards kneeling down opposite Nathan gripping her jeans in her fists to try and control her trembling, "Look I get it, you've got no reason to trust me, but,...'sigh' Ever since that night I've not slept properly, all I see is you running at me like something possessed covered in blood, That's why I'm usually either high or dosed on sleeping tablets, Your secrets safe with me I can tell you that much," Nathan offered sincerely.

Chloe knelt down beside Max taking a Joint out of the Pinkett's pocket, lighting it she handed it to Max, Shakily Max took the offering taking a deep drag and holding it in as she let the fuzz start to work on her, The three sat in silence for a few moments as Max started to get her tremors under control.

Max let herself relax a little, shifting her position so she was leaning on one hand, "So, nothing to do with him?" Max asked in confirmation, Nathan shook his head, "Not since that night, I ended up staying with a friend for a while before I got a place of my own, About the only good thing my dad did," Nathan sneered in reply as he leaned back, "This might sound a little forward but, do you have any info that might be useful, I still got two friends in there I promised to get out," Max asked slowly as Chloe reached over and squeezed her hand, Nathan looked thoughtful for a moment, "Probably know what you do, heh, you probably know more than me, I do know that my father used to disappear every other weekend, not that ya need to guess where he was," Nathan replied giving a visible shudder.

"Odd, didn't you say you only fought every three to four weeks," Chloe asked puzzled, "Maybe there's more than one," Max replied with a sigh, "Wouldnt surprise me," Nathan added wearily.

As the bell rang Nathan groaned and got to his feet, "I gotta go, But if I hear anything I'll let you know," he said giving the two girls a wave, "And Kelly, I'm glad you got out," Nathan added with a smile as he walked off to class.

"Well that's a relief," Chloe exclaimed resting backwards on her hands with a relieved grin, "yup," Max muttered stubbing her smoke and slouching against Chloe's shoulder, "Looks like I get to relax for a change," she continued with a smile, "No more running, I'm home, I'm safe and I have Chloe," Max thought happily as the two just relaxed.

"Not that I want to spoil this but, ain't you going to class," Max asked, Chloe grinned "Look I just had the best birthday present in the last five years, I hella get at least one day to enjoy it," Chloe said excitedly as she grabbed Max by the hand yanking her to her feet she dragged the Pinkett towards the truck, "I'm not a toy Chloe," Max giggled as she was dragged along offering no resistance.

* * *

 **So who figured it was Nathan all the way back then :D**

 **Next chapter, some funny, some smack talk and some feels,**

 **Next few are gonna be about this length, But when I get onto the other arcs I may split them for effect, I have a nice cliff hanger in mind soonish**

 **Glad to see a steady number of readers, means I'm doing somin right (Yes there's GOING to be a fight or two coming up soon, 2-3 chapters)**

 **Reviews/comments are welcome,**

 **stay happy**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chloe's wish**

"First stop of the day, FOOD," Chloe cheered as the girls pulled into the Two Whales diner car park and unbuckled their seatbelts, "I haven't been here in years,...well in it at any rate," Max said happily as she bounced out of the truck slamming the door shut eyeing up the old diner, "Well," Chloe chirped as she got out of the truck shutting her own door and joining Max at her side, "Still the best food in the bay, And now they do a killer burger,...though it's off menu," Chloe chuckled as the two entered the diner.

Entering the diner Max noted it was fairly quiet, A young lad sat with an older man at the breakfast bar chatting amongst themselves, the only other patrons was a young family sat at the far end with two young boys, "I'll be right with you girls," Joyce shot from behind the counter with a smile as Chloe dragged Max to the table the two had shared as kids, There was a wolf whistle from behind them "Hey, ya after some real fun," A male voice called out, As the girls sat down at their table Max leaned over the table to Chloe, "Is he talking to us," She whispered quietly, Chloe glanced over at the lad who was making no attempt to hide his gaze and rolled her eyes groaning, "I think he's actually talking to you," she replied with a slight smirk, Max felt herself blush slightly as she glanced at the lad still gawking in her direction, "Sorry but um, Your not my type," Max shot over to the lad only to get a snort in response, "And what is your type," he shot back challengingly, "ugh, dude, you ain't got the right blueprints ok," Max shot back irritatedly, Chloe let out a snicker slapping the table with her palm, "Dude, I am so remembering that one," Chloe said passing a glance at the lad who was looking at the two girls confused as they both started giggling hysterically.

"Nice to see you two enjoying yourselves," Joyce said as she walked over glancing at the still confused lad with a smirk, "Hi Joyce," Max replied still grinning as she tried to calm her laughing fit down, "Can't say I'm surprised to see you here," Joyce shot Chloe accusingly while keeping her smile, Chloe rolled her eyes at her mother, "It's under control mom, Kate's said she would get me a copy of the notes for art and science, And she's also gonna grab any homework from math and English for me too for the rest of the week, ANNND my assignments for art and science due at the end of the month are already done, It's all sorted," Chloe insisted with a grin, Joyce held her hands up smiling, "ok ok, It wasn't a dig, But I'm glad you got it under control, Now onto more important matters,...what you two eating,".

After ordering their perspective meals, the girls chatted about this and that, Max found very quickly that when it came to variety Chloe had the lion's share of experiences outside of fighting at any rate, Chloe talked about how she was looking to become a kickboxing teacher as well as the upcoming tournament qualifiers starting the weekend coming, "You should so come, Portland is great, And you'll get to see me in action," Chloe beamed excitedly as Joyce brought over two plates of pancakes, Max couldn't help but grin at the thought, And it would allow her to find another match of her own, but mostly it just meant more time with Chloe, "Sounds fun, Might even be able to earn some extra cash up there," Max agreed, eyeing up her pancakes, "You ain't talking about those questionable fights are you Kelly," Joyce prodded quietly with a worried expression, Max felt herself sink a little in her seat, "It's not as bad as it sounds most of the time," Max pointed out shrugging, "Besides I need the money, and I'm good at it, And last time I walked away without a scratch...more or less," she finished quietly as she ate a forkful of pancakes, "Mom trust me she can look after herself, besides from now on I'll be with her," Chloe interjected as she chewed down half a pancake, Joyce let out a defeated sigh, "fine, fine, Just be careful," Joyce said to Max as she disappeared back behind the counter.

After finishing their breakfast Max paid the bill and left a tip as the girls got up to leave, Chloe let out a quiet chuckle, "Ya know mom won't be happy about you leaving that," She whispered as they made their way to the door, Max just shrugged, "Look she's putting me up indefinitely, Won't let me pay any rent, hell she won't even let me pay for the crack in the wall I put there, So I'll pay rent in tips," Max replied grinning as they crossed the parking lot, Looking back the girls saw Joyce at their table giving Max a scowl and shaking her head, Max just poked her tongue out at Joyce grinning as they climbed into the truck.

A short while later the two were walking along the mostly deserted beach side by side as the two reminisced about their childhood adventures, "I must admit I'm a little surprised, not much has changed really," Max admitted as the two girls sat on the sand leaning against a large rock, "Well a few shops have changed hands, but that's about it really," Chloe replied putting her hands behind her head, Max gazed out over the bay, The lighthouse ever vigilant high on the cliff, It was about noon Max had guessed as the sun was high in a cloudless sky and a gentle offshore breeze at their backs, "Do you remember the last time we spoke," Chloe muttered her voice sounding distant, "Yeah it was about thirty seconds ago," Max grinned giving the bluenette a gentle shoulder barge, "har har, very witty," Chloe replied returning the shoulder barge, "That's not what I meant,", "I know what you meant Chlo," Max responded giggling a little, "I remember...We promised together forever,...It was just before your father's funeral," Max said solemnly.

"heh, I remember that," Chloe replied in a heavy tone, Glancing up at Chloe, Max could see a tear rolling down the bluenette's cheek, "Oh Chlo, please don't cry," Max pleaded mentally, "It wasn't that though," Chloe sniffed as she wiped her cheek, Max looked at her confused as she tried to think what she was talking about, "It was the day you told me you were leaving for Seattle,..I...I told you to fuck off and...and that.." "I was dead to you," Max mumbled finishing her sentence as Chloe trailed off into heartfelt sobs, "I regretted it the moment you,..walked out, Wished I could take it back so much, And then you,...you went missing," Chloe sobbed into her arms as she brought her knee's up to her chin, "Chlo," Max muttered feeling slightly stunned as she edged closer pulling the sobbing girl into her and wrapping her arms around her, "Chlo,..this wasn't your fault, you didn't do this," Max assured her softly as a tear rolled down her own cheek, "she's blamed herself for five years, Fuck, I didn't even remember it," she thought to herself as she cradled the sobbing bluenette, "I know," Chloe sniffed taking a shaky breath, "I've known it all along, But there was always part of me,...That told me I did,...And all I ever wanted,...All I wished for was to say sorry," Chloe got out between sobs.

Max let out a sigh as she gave the sobbing girl a squeeze, "Chlo, you have nothing to apologize for, If I'm honest, I didn't even think about that outburst after the first day, You had just buried ya dad, and then I told you I was leaving, You were in pain and angry, I know you didn't mean it,...You honestly think I'd have run away from home to see you if I had,".

Chloe let out a watery chuckle, "No I suppose not," she muttered, "But if it makes you feel better, Apology accepted, Not that it was needed, But apology accepted," Max said genuinely, "Thanks,.That actually does help," Chloe replied looking around to Max smiling.

Max sighed happily "Happy Birthday Chlo,"

* * *

 **So this ones a little short, But I realized I've been putting out a chapter a day so I guess it balances out, The up-coming weekend should be a good size but no spoilers :P**

 **The next one might be a little short too but it's setting up for a few things to happen, so it should be good.**

 **Comments/reviews welcome**

 **stay happy**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know I missed yesterday's, but in my defence, this is around 3.5-4k, so ya getting a double dose. :P**

* * *

 **Grading**

Waking up Max was greeted by the Prices living room, The pull out bed while not the most comfortable sleep, was at least familiar and allowed her to wake up each morning in her childhood home, Finding her jeans she rummaged through the pockets retrieving her phone and checked the time, 08:20, seeing she had an unread message she checked it,

Chloe: Hey pinky, gone to gym for workout/training, be back about midday

"Ya know Chlo, I woulda come if you had woken me, I could use a workout," she muttered to herself flexing her bad hand and inspecting the wound, It wasn't bad, still red and if it wasn't for the glue would probably still bleed, But it wasn't sore, Pulling her jeans and white top on from yesterday, she got out of bed and folded it away, leaving the duvet and pillows in a neat pile and went to take a shower. Once showered she went into Chloe's room to get dressed, Chloe had cleared out a space in her wardrobe for her as well as found an old suitcase, This at least freed up her Duffle bag for normal use rather than 'living out' of it, Deciding on black jeans, black sports bra and her only pink tank top, she packed a pair of shorts and tape into her duffle bag, and took it downstairs to grab some breakfast.

Leaving the house Max zipped up her biker jacket and slung her duffel bag over her shoulders spotting Chloe's truck in the drive, "Guess she jog's to the gym," Max thought shrugging to herself as she put on her helmet and started her bike up, Pulling out of the driveway she paused for a moment as an idea popped into her head, grinning to herself she sped up the street to see if she could track down what she was after.

Little over an hour later Max pulled up outside the Arcadia gym, switching off her bike she got off and went inside, "Hey Kelly," Davids' voice came from behind the counter as she entered the large room, "Hey David," Max replied waving as she walked over to him, Rummaging through her duffle bag she pulled out two packages giving them David, "Can you put these behind the counter till later please,".

"Sure thing, you gonna get some training in," he said motioning over towards where Chloe was working over a pair of punch pads with a guy with black hair in a black tracksuit, Following Davids gesture she nodded before heading to the changing rooms, "Yeah but I ain't gonna interfere with Chloe, I'll just work a bag,"

In the changing rooms Max quickly got changed into her black shorts, removed her top and taped up her hands and ankles and left the changing rooms, Finding a free punchbag she made her way over glancing at Chloe as released a barrage of kicks and jabs at the pads her training partner was holding, Max found herself biting her lip as she watched, "common plenty of time for that later, I get to watch her in the ring this weekend," she grinned to herself as she turned her attention to the punchbag hanging from the ceiling and began working it.

Max quickly found herself lost in her own thoughts as she threw jabs and kicks into the defenceless target, For a moment she was back in that prison, with Diana training her, "Side onto your target, arm straight when you jab," she could hear Diana's voice in her head making her smile, "Hey Kelly, think fast," a voice snapped Max out of her thought's, spinning on her heel to see a leg rushing up to meet her.

Instinctively Max brought her arm up blocking the blow, A blue glove followed as she ducked under it making a large sweep with her leg extended making contact with the legs of her assailant, "Whoooa, ooof,"

From her crouched position Max caught sight of a head of blue hair, lowering her guard and standing she saw Chloe flat on her back grinning like an idiot with the man she had been training with a few feet away looking mildly amused, "Chloe what the hell," she shot accusingly offering the bluenette a hand up, Chloe accepted the hand, letting herself get pulled to her feet still grinning, "Sorry pinky, Told you she was good," Chloe remarked to the bystander, Max rolled her eyes "I could have hurt you Chlo," Max muttered not sure what to make of the situation, "Pfft, gimme some credit, Although next time I'll make sure there's a crash mat," Chloe replied rubbing her ass, "Oh Kelly, this is Terrance, My trainer, Terrance, Kelly,"

"Oh er, Pleased to meet you," Max said offering her hand with a smile, "Likewise, Chloe here hasn't shut up about you all morning," Terrance replied shaking Max's offered hand, "What grade you at?"

"Oh about that, she doesn't have one," Chloe answered quickly glancing at Max with a grin, "I don't suppose you could,...give her an assessment," Chloe asked her trainer, "Chlo," Max said in surprise, looking between Chloe and her trainer feeling a little put on the spot, "Is that was this is about, she wants to know how good I am," she thought to herself.

"Chlo I'm not sure about this," Max muttered as she put Chloe's gloves on glancing at Terrance in the ring waiting patiently, "Kelly Look," Chloe said softly placing her hands on Max's shoulders turning the Pinkett to face her, "It's no big deal, it's just like a sparring match, you've done those right," Chloe said encouragingly looking Max in the eye, Max responded with a nervous nod, "Besides, this could be hella awesome, you, me owning the Championship's, I know you're at LEAST nearly as good as me," Chloe grinned, excitement in her eyes. Max smiled at the thought, "That does actually sound pretty epic,...Hang on, I thought there was only one winner," Max asked with a frown, Chloe slouched her shoulders slightly, "Yeah there's the singles tournament, But we were entered for the team tourney, unfortunately the other team member left after he disagreed with the grading Terrance gave him," Chloe sighed and then grinned giving Max a little push towards the ring, "Even if he had stuck around, I'd still want you on the team, Now get that boney white ass in there and lets see what you got pinky," She said enthusiastically, With a reluctant smile Max allowed herself to get ushered into the ring.

Max and Terrance gave each other a little bow and began circling each other, Almost instantly Terrance opened up with a few quick jabs, knocking away two of them with her arms she dodged the third snapping a kick into Terrance side which he blocked before spinning on his heel striking out with a kick of his own, Max Brought her arm up to protect the side of her head from the blow, The impact was much harder than she anticipated crushing her arm between his foot and the side of her head knocking her to the floor, Chloe let out a gasp, "Common Terrance, you won't even use that on me," Chloe shouted annoyed, Giving her head a quick shake Max flipped herself back to her feet adjusting her stance slightly, Her heart was racing as adrenaline rushed through her, Again Terrance attacked with a few Jab's, blocking the first she spun out of the way of the other two landing her own jabs into his unguarded shoulder and side before jumping backward as his return kick connected with her midsection causing her to double over slightly letting out a sharp gasp, "Fuck his fast," she thought to herself as she dived into a roll to got some distance spinning on her heel defensively as she deflected another blow.

"Common Kelly, don't hold back," Chloe cheered as Max blocked another punch head on with her palm, A dull pain shot up her arm as she felt her wound tear open causing her to grit her teeth, Terrance followed up with another high kick aimed at the side of her head, Unable to block it, Max ducked down springing forwards and throwing her weight into her feet as his leg went over her head, her feet made contact with his lower back causing him to stumble into the ropes as she rolled away in a low crouch and sprung at him again with straight kick.

Chloe let out a gasp as Terrance spun around catching Max's leg mid kick, his other arm across her chest as he pinned her to the floor grinning, "That I didn't expect," he panted as he got to his feet helping Max up, "Sorry," Max said sheepishly, "Ha, don't be sorry, Nice to see new move sets, Where'd you learn to fight like that," Terrance asked enquiringly, "I have two friends that taught me, One was a black belt in kickboxing, She taught me most of it as well as some other styles she started picking up on, If I'm honest I'm not used to fighting like that," Max replied as they walked over to a grinning Chloe holding out two water bottles, "Oh, what do you mean," Terrance asked nodding to Chloe as he took a water bottle off her taking a mouthful, "Officially I mean, I guess I'm more of a backstreet brawler," Max commented taking the other water bottle off Chloe, "I can't wait to see you in action over the weekend," Chloe beamed, "You have a match this weekend?" Terrance asked surprised, Max gave a shrug, "If I can find one, It's usually easy money, and it lets me let loose," Max replied drinking her water, "OOH, that kind of fight," Terrance said scrunching his face slightly in disapproval, "I know of a few places, bit barbaric, But I can't preach, Used to do a little myself, If ya want I can help ya find one,"

Sitting on a bench to one side of the gym, David had joined them as he set about fixing Max's hand up again, After enquiring how it had happened, Max and Chloe filled Terrance in on the night in the junkyard leaving out the part where Chloe had a knife to her throat, After that Terrance explained how the team tournaments worked, A minimum of two fighters per team, Each would have a one vs one match, The team that won the most matches went onto the next round, Incase of a tie breaker the first two combatants would have a rematch provided both were fit enough, else it would move onto the second pairing, But to qualify the team had to win two out of three qualifiers, The first was this weekend with the second the following weekend, If they didn't have a team of two by then and had won both the qualifiers, Chloe would go into the singles tournament.

"I'd like to have you as Chloe's partner Kelly, for training at least, I'd be comfortable saying your around the brown belt level, probably higher," Terrance said handing Max a few forms, "If your interested fill those out and that's pretty much it, There's no pressure though," He finished as he got up and went to the changing rooms.

"I knew you'd be good enough, This is gonna be hella epic," Chloe said excitedly, Looking over the forms Max saw they were simple enough, "Name, address, date of birth, the normal stuff, And two forms of ID, again easy enough,...although," she thought with a sigh looking at a clearly excited Chloe, "Chlo," Max muttered in a regretful tone, "What's wrong," Chloe inquired looking at Max confused, "I really want to do this but,...I wanna do it as ME, not ya know, not Kelly," Max mumbled sympathetically, "The second this shit is sorted though I swear I'm in, though," Max added seeing the disappointment in the bluenette's face.

"I totally get it," Chloe said in a depressed tone, "Look, I'll be coming to every match you have, plus I can still train with you and all that other stuff, but this," Max said comfortingly holding up the forms, "This will have to wait, I want something that's mine, not a made up persons,"

"Honestly, I get it, setting up a life that's not yours when everything in it is what you want in your own life you can't have, I totally understand," Chloe replied still a little disheartened, "Common let's get changed and bounce,"

Once showered and changed Max was waiting at the front desk chatting with David and Terrance, as Chloe came up to them they fell silent, "You guys talking about me," Chloe said with a smirk, Max nodded to David who bent down and retrieved the two wrapped packages placing them on the counter, "What are those," Chloe asked eyeing the packages suspiciously as Max picked one of them up handing it to the bluenette, "Happy Birthday Chloe," Max said grinning, Chloe gave Max a fake scowl, "My birthday was three days ago, and besides I've already had my birthday present REMEMBER," Chloe said accusingly, "Oh just shut up and open it ya dork," Max shot back playfully still grinning, Shrugging Chloe tore into the wrapping, "Whoa,"

"This is so badass," Chloe exclaimed looking over a black and white leather biker jacket with a skull stitched into the back, Sliding it on to check the fit she grabbed Max in a tight hug, "Thanks, I love it," she said excitedly, Max feigned suffocation, "That's only part of it," she gasped pointing to the other package, Releasing the Pinkett Chloe unwrapped the other package revealing a Black and white helmet with a matching pair of gloves, "I've already arranged it with Terrance, his taking ya stuff up to Portland this weekend, If ya want I can,..give you a lift," Max said a little shyly as she felt her cheeks go a little red, No one else seemed to notice though much to Max's relief.

"Can we swing by Blackwell, I need to pick up my work from Kate," Chloe asked adjusting the straps on Max's duffle bag as they approached Max's bike, "Sure thing," Max replied as she put the key into the machine and kicked it to life swinging her leg over and her seat, "Hop on," Max insisted tapping the space behind her, "So I just basically hold on right," Chloe replied as she sat behind Max pulling her feet on the footrests and snaking her hands around Max's waist, "Pretty much," Max answered thankful her helmet was hiding her blush as she hit the throttle and they roared down the road with Chloe howling gleefully.

At Blackwell the two girls were crossing the grounds towards the dorms with helmets in hand, There were students at various locations, A group of girls by the fountain chatting amongst themselves, as well as a few skater boys by the steps near the bus stop, "Oh hey Chloe, and her pink haired friend," A young man sat on the wall to the dorms called out as the girls approached, "Hi guys, this is Kelly, Kelly this is Warren and Brook," Chloe explained indicating to the lad and the girl sat next to him on a tablet, "hi, nice to meet you," Max said cheerily receiving just a nod from Brook, "Ain't seen you all week Chloe where ya been," Warren asked leaning back on the wall putting his arm around Brook, Chloe gave a shrug, "Been hanging with Kelly here, Not seen her in years and she came back on my birthday soo, I just been enjoying my present," Chloe explained placing her hand on Max's shoulder pulling her in for a dramatic hug. Max rolled her eyes, "I thought I said I wasn't a toy," she giggled.

"Oh hush," Chloe retorted playfully, "Can't stop, gotta grab some stuff off Kate then bounce, Trip up to Portland tomorrow,", "Oh I almost forgot ya match on Saturday," Warren replied sounding excited, Chloe gave a grin "Yeah, Kelly here has one too, Why you coming,"

"Yeah, can make a weekend of it, Ok if I bring Brook," Warren asked giving Brook a gentle hug, "huh, wassat," Brook said tapping on her pad and putting it to one side then looking up, "Oh hi Chloe, Who's ya, friend," she said smiling, Chloe, Warren and Max started laughing, "What,...oh I did it again didn't I," Brook said looking a little sheepish, "No worries babe, We know how you zone out when ya using that thing, This is Kelly by the way," Warren said grinning, "I should explain these two are the embodiment of geekery, Warren's all science, as smart as me in that area, maybe a little more so, and Brook here is into anything techy, Like that for instance," Chloe said pointing to a small drone flying towards them which landed on top of Brooks pad. "It's not just tech, It's great for aerial shots too," Brook responded as she tapped her pad again a few times.

After a few minutes of chatter, Brook agreed on going to Portland and the girls said goodbye as Chloe led Max into the dorms, "Hey Chloe, missed your ass in classes this week," A blonde haired girl said waving down the hall, "Hi Julz, yeah been hanging with Kelly here, Sorry but I'm in a bit of a rush, I'll catch up with ya later," Chloe replied giving the girl a wave, "Oh ok, good luck on Saturday," The blonde responded disappearing into her room, "That was Juliet, writes for the school paper, loves a good story, bit of a snoop, but she's a good friend," Chloe explained to Max as she knocked on Kates door, "you seem popular," Max stated as matter of fact, "It's open," Came a small voice from the other side of the door, "Yeah that happens when ya kick the shit outta a jock that harasses a friend of yours," Chloe replied nonchalant, "Oh there's definitely a story there," Max replied increased, "Yup Juliet's already got it, though, Hey Kate," Chloe replied nodding to Kate as the two entered the room.

"Hi I'm,..", "Kelly, sorry Chloe already described you, You weren't kidding when you said about her eyes," Kate said cutting Max off as she gave the Pinkett a hug and took a step back looking at Max's eyes, "When have I ever lied to you Kate," Chloe objected feigning hurt, Kate rolled her eyes and gave a giggle, "Oh I don't know, about a million times, Like the time you swapped my chamomile tea for regular tea, I was up half the night," she replied sarcastically, "grrr, It was an honest mistake," Chloe said defensively throwing herself on Kates bed, "One's in a blue packet the other's a yellow packet, how do you mix em up," Kate retorted raising an eyebrow at Chloe, Max just giggled seeing Chloe at a loss for words against the petite blonde.

The three girls sat around chatting and drinking tea, Kate and Chloe went over the weeks work while Max went through a sketchbook of Kate's looking at all her drawings, "These are really good Kate, All I can do is punch things," Max admired, "Oh you do what Chloe does then," Kate asked sounding a little concerned, "Yeah I do, but don't worry it's only in the ring, Or to defend my friends, I don't go looking for fights," Max replied giving Kate a reassuring smile, "To each their own I suppose," Kate said shrugging as she handed Chloe another set of papers, "Kate your killing me here," Chloe groaned, "Well if ya don't want the help then," Kate shot playfully making a grab for the papers, "no no, I'll survive," Chloe shot back quickly knocking the blonde's hands away while Max stifled a giggle.

Saying there goodbyes Chloe led Max back outside across the campus back to her bike, Most of the students had dispersed except for the skater boys still hanging around, "So what ya wanna do now," Chloe asked adjusting the straps on the duffle bag, "Well you've got homework to do, So maybe just chill out listen to music, maybe watch a film later," Max replied tugging her helmet on and putting the key in the bike, "I got loads of time to do that stuff," Chloe protested putting her helmet on, Max let out a sigh, "Look, between driving up there and my match tomorrow, and your match on Saturday and driving back on Sunday, When exactly are you planning on doing it?" Max asked inquisitively, Chloe held up her hands, "ok, ok, sheesh, ya worse than Kate, damn slave drivers," She replied defeatedly, Max let out a snicker, "You ain't met Diana yet," she commented as she kicked the bike to life.

* * *

 **Nothing massively exciting, bunch of expo for later chapters, Next up, Max's match and Chloe's qualifier so expect a fight or two, Might have to split it up, depending on what I do with it :P  
**

 **(Eta 1-2 days due to work picking up again :/)**

 **Reviews and comments welcome**

 **stay happy**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey all, Sorry it's been a while but I have not forgotten you all. Work has been kicking my ass as well as regrettably our dog had to be put down just over a week ago due to an illness :'(, So as you can imagine my heads not really been with it.**

 **However I promised a fight and I try to deliver so here it is, It's amazing how long the chapter got.**

* * *

 **Endurance**

The drive up to Portland had become Max's new favorite memory, since getting out of 'the shit pit' Having Chloe holding onto her as the pair belted it up the highway in the early morning sun, Max didn't pay much attention to the scenery as it sailed past at dizzying speeds, focusing more on the butterflies in her stomach and the oncoming road the ride had only taken a few hours, not that Max had noticed the time if anything she wished it coulda lasted a little longer, But there was always the return trip and their weekend together.

Pulling up in the parking lot of the motel they, Terrance and Warren and Brook had all arranged to stay at, Finding a parking space wasn't difficult for Max, Entering the motel they found Terrance waiting for them with their bag's, "Hey girls, how was the drive," he said handing Chloe there room key, ""Was hella, She drives like a demon," Chloe replied grinning as she grabbed the key and picking up one of the bags, "Oh whatever, you loved it, she was howling the whole way," Max remarked rolling her eyes giving the bluenette a gentle shove.

Agreeing to meet up later in the evening the girls grabbed the rest of their stuff and went up to their room, "This is a decent pad," Chloe stated dropping the bags on the floor and slumping down on the double bed, Dropping her own bags and looking around Max saw the room was indeed nice, a wall mounted TV against the wardrobe, a desk against the wall, a small on suite bathroom with a tub, "Only one bed," Max remarked blushing slightly as she checked out the bathroom, "Hey I'm down with that, be just like when we used to have sleepovers," Chloe replied cheerily as she bounced off the bed and started unpacking one of the bags, "Yeah, It's just things are,..different now," Max mumbled looking out the window at the busy street below, "Not really, we got taller, Oh and these got bigger," Chloe replied grinning as she cupped her breasts giving them a small bounce, "It's not that, It's just...last time I shared a bed with anyone was with...well you," Max stammered slightly turning to look at Chloe beaming back at her with a stupid grin, "What,"

"It's just sorta nice to know I'm in a sorta exclusive club," Chloe shrugged turning back to unpacking the bag, "If only you knew Chlo," Max grinned to herself, "So we got most of the day, watcha wanna do,"

The girls spent the day walking around a few of the gardens around their motel, stopping by a few food courts picking up some doughnuts and sitting on a bench near the river, "Gonna be hella watching you clean house tonight," Chloe remarked taking a bite of her doughnut as the two girls looked across the quiet river, "I have lost before Chloe," Max replied rummaging in the paper bag the older girl was holding for another doughnut, Chloe gave a small shrug, "I ain't counting that first night, Or sparring matches, And neither should you," Chloe trailed slightly as she glanced at the Pinkett who's gaze had gone glassy.

O.o.o.O

The Bar was fairly lit very crowded and the air smelled of cigarette smoke and alcohol, "Whats the wager," The brunette questioned the bartender nodding towards the worn boxing ring, The large tattooed man looked at the young girl with a frown and nodded towards a blackboard, "Odd's are up there," he said gruffly, Looking up at the board Max saw five names scrawled down the side with odd's written next to them and a space for a sixth, "Who's the sixth," Max inquired nodding to the empty space on the board, The bartender just shrugged, "whoever shows up," he shot back not even bothering to turn around, "sign me up," Max replied sitting on the stool at the bar slinging her duffle bag off her shoulders placing it beside her and retrieving her tape, The bartender turned around eyeing up the brunette with his brow raised giving a chuckle, "This ain't no lightweight girl,", Max ignored him and started taping up her hands, "What's wrong my money not good enough," Max shot calmly as she gave her fists a flex stretching the tape in as she looked the bartender square in the face, "You're serious," he stated flatly his expression unreadable, "what's the wager," The brunette asked again as she slid her boots off and started taping her ankles up, The bartender sighed, "Ok, don't say I didn't warn you, it's five hundred, winner takes all, With you that makes three grand, Although I strongly advise against it," he stated sounding a little concerned.

"SCORE, That will put me over eleven grand," Max thought to herself as she pulled out the money from her duffle bag and handed it to the Bartender. "Whats the name," The bartender asked taking the money, Max gave a shrug, "Riot girl,"

Shortly after Max was making her way to the ring after the first round was announced, hearing a few whispers and quiet jeers as she passed through the crowd of spectators, Entering the ring she saw a young man mid twenties she guessed in the opposite corner looking at her a little confused, "Hey Gary, is this a joke," The young man shouted at the bartender turning his back on Max as the bell went signaling the start, "Dude she's paid up, just like the rest of you," Gary replied as he dried a glass, "Dude I don't wanna beat the shit outta a gi..." The young man was cut off as Max sprinted across the ring launching herself feet first at him, hitting him square in the shoulders and sending him flipping over the ropes and out of the ring as the crowd cheered and laughed as the bell rung him out.

"One down, two to go," Max thought grinning to herself as she made her way to leave the ring, "Hey you ain't done yet," Gary shouted over to Max as she was about to get out of the ring, Max looked at him frowning, "His out, though," she replied feeling a little confused, he had left the ring, usually meant they were done, "It's winner stays on girl, sorry shoulda mentioned that" he shot back with a slightly guilty look shrugging, Max's eyes went wide, "Holy shit..I gotta beat ALL five in a row," she yelled back her voice carrying a slight panic as she turned to face her new opponent as the bell rang and he began to advance.

Max launched herself past her opponent landing a knee square in his gut causing him to gasp a little as he spun around to make a grab for her but Max was too quick for him putting herself into a roll as she got her distance ending up on all fours, As he advanced again she launched herself at him only for the guy to grab her at the waist with both hands, Grinning he brought her head up to his and smashed his forehead into her face, The impact caused Max's vision to blur instantly as she felt an all too familiar hot sticky liquid run out her nose, Another impact sent a wave of pain through her, Her head was spinning as she tried to focus, The sound of cheering and concerned oohs seemed to fade as Max felt the guy moving towards the edge of the ring.

Shaking her head quickly Max's vision started to clear, from her peripheral vision she saw the ropes of the ring getting closer, Throwing her weight backwards she walked up the man's chest with her feet stamping her heel into his nose with a satisfying crunch as he let go of the brunette cradling his face, Max landed on the floor of the ring with a thud knocking the wind out of her slightly as the man stumbled slightly, swinging her waist around she brought one of her legs into contact with his legs bringing him crashing to the floor, Continuing the motion she brought her leg around and up over him and brought her heel crashing into his face sending a splatter of blood across the floor.

Staggering to her feet with her head still spinning slightly, the sounds of the cheering crowds started becoming clearer, She saw the other man start to get to his, without thinking she let loose a kick into the side of his head causing the man to collapse to the floor motionless, Staggering back over to her corner she grabbed a small towel hanging on the corner post wiping some of the blood of her face as the ringside help dragged the unconscious man out of the ring, as the third challenger entered.

The third guy seemed to be a lot more cautious, Keeping his defences up and trading jabs, He had scored a fair few hits on Max's lower sides but had refreshingly seemed to avoid her face, This sparring had gone on longer than the previous challenger by a long margin and several of the crowd seemed to be bored while others were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the blow that would kick things off, They didn't have to wait long as her opponent launched a roundhouse directly at her head, Instinctively she braced for it with both forearms, While the blow was much more powerful than she anticipated she didn't feel any pain at this point as her adrenalin was running at an all-time high, But it did knock her to the floor, On her back with her opponent advancing on her she made for a straight kick only for him to catch it at a dead stop with one hand, quickly swinging her other leg around she broke his grip by kicking his hand and flipped herself backwards, The second her feet touched the ground she launched herself forwards arms ahead of her like a superman flight pose and ploughed into the guys abdomen knocking the wind out of him with a gut wrenching cough, As he hit the ground Max was on top of him fist raised ready to bring it down on his face, Coughing and spluttering the guy saw what was about to happen, his eyes widened as he held his hands up in defeat still struggling to breathe, The bell rung and Max lowered her fist getting off the downed man and staggered towards her corner panting heavily, each breath felt slightly laboured as she examined the bruising starting to show up on her lower ribs and abdomen.

Max felt the ring vibrate under heavy footfall as the next challenger entered the ring, Turning to see who it was Max had noticed a fair amount of booing from the crowd as well as the rest of the crowd had either gone quiet or was reduced to low whispers, Looking at the guy he didn't look THAT intimidating, Recalling her first opponent in 'The shit pit' looked much scarier, Sure he was fairly big guy, But he was clearly a weight lifter, all upper body muscle very little leg muscle, "Big slow and a LOT of power, avoid the fists,"

Her assessment hadn't been wrong, well mostly, avoiding his jabs was pretty easy the problem lay in actually inflicting anything on him, Even when she landed a hit, he didn't even seem to register them and the only time she had tried to sweep him was met with as much success as sweeping a telephone pole and only resulted in needing an ice pack on her ankle once this was done, not that she wouldn't need one after anyhow, but for now her adrenaline was keeping her aches and pains in check, No matter how much she danced around and probed his defences hitting him was like punching a sandbag at anything below the shoulders, Taking a different approach she darted around behind him and leaped up bringing her leg up and connecting her foot with the side of his face causing him to stumble slightly as she gave herself a little distance, "Ok, seems it's just the head and the obvious place, Not that I would usually go there..well not now that I'm outta that hell hole,"

Deciding to change tact, Max got herself in close ducking and weaving the between the other guys blows as she started landing her own on the guys face, Each blow was rewarded with a dull grunt as the crowd started cheering, Allowing the inertia of a swing to carry her around, she spun on her heel putting her weight into a haymaker aimed right at the guys jaw.

The next few seconds appeared to happen in slow motion and fast forward at the same time, Slow enough for Max to recall every detail, but too fast for her to do anything about it, The guy grabbed her arm mid-swing and turned his back into her causing her chest to slam into his shoulder her arm draped over his shoulder as he held it against his chest, In one swift movement he yanked down on her arm while pushing her body the opposite direction, A gut wrenching pain shot through her as she felt her shoulder pulled out of its socket, A curdling cry escaped her lungs as the crowd suddenly went silent with gasps and the odd boo, Before she could even fully register how much pain she was in she felt herself get flung to one side as a powerful kick made contact with her midsection knocking out whatever air was left in her lungs as she crashed to the floor the other side of the ring.

Gasping for air Max struggled to get to her knee's, only managing to get one foot flat on the floor while cradling her shoulder as the pain writhed through her like a red hot poker, She could feel the pain burning the adrenaline off and her strength with it, she knew she was at her limit, By now the crowd had fallen completely silent say for a few low whispers, She saw the man approaching her, shakily she looked up at him to see him wearing a shit eating grin with his hands on his hips, "You're done, girl, no one gets up from that,...now go home and play with your dolls," he jeered as he bent down slightly, Max gritted her teeth forcing the pain from her mind, she's deal with that later, She put whatever she had left into her leg and launched herself at the overconfident prick slamming her knee into his face, she felt his mouth and nose explode like overfilled water balloons as blood splatted over her knee and his face, a satisfying crunch backed by a unison of gasps from the crowd as the recoil from the impact sent Max crashing to the floor awkwardly face first, letting out a muffled scream as the impact sent a fresh jolt of white-hot pain through her shoulder as she bearly noticed two teeth that weren't her's skitting past her.

Dazed and drained Max struggled to get herself upright sitting on one leg panting heavily, Her head was pounding and the familiar taste of iron filled her mouth as the hot liquid ran from the side of her mouth, The crowd still hadn't made a sound since she landed, behind her she could hear a few heavy staggered footsteps, She tried to force herself to her feet only to collapse back to the floor as the last of her strength left her, She closed her eyes waiting for the final blow that would finish her.

 **THUD**

The crowd erupted into cheers around her as she wearily looked around feeling confused until she caught a glimpse of the guy behind her sprawled out face down on the floor, Max became aware of someone else entering the ring, "Oh that's right, number five," she thought to herself as she tried again to force herself to stand only to collapse again, "Take it, easy girl, your done, Valiant effort, though," A gruff voice said as a firm hand rested on her good shoulder, reluctantly Max nodded knowing she was past her limit as a pair of arms scooped her up and carried her from the ring, Struggling to keep her eyes open, Max could hear whispers of approval mixed with disbelief as she was carried back to the bar and put on one of the stools.

"Get Sandra out here, Tell her that asshole Damion's done it again" The man who had carried her said, Max wasn't really focusing on anything as she tried to keep the pain from her shoulder at bay, Gary placed a short glass in front of Max with a dark brown liquid in it, "Drink that, it'll help," he said, Max took the glass and gave it a sniff wrinkling her nose, "Down in one," Gary said with a small chuckle, Taking a breath Max downed the contents of the glass in one coughing once or twice as the liquid burned its way down her throat and into her stomach, "Uggh, you actually drink that stuff WILLINGLY," she gasped putting the glass down, Gary filled the glass again pushing it an inch towards Max, "Looks like you win Trevor," Gary said to the big guy behind Max, "It's a hollow victory, A normal knockout and I'd be in trouble...Gary why do you still let him in the bloody ring, he does it every fight," Trevor replied gruffly thumbing to the guy still face down in the ring, Gary let out a sigh, "I know, to be honest I think I'll have a riot if I let him back in after tonight, already had a bunch of patrons asking the same thing," "Where is he then," A woman's voice came, "Still in the ring Sandra," Trevor stated flatly thumbing towards the ring, "I don't care about that shit, I mean the poor sod his done it too this time," Sandra replied coldly.

Trevor let out a chuckle and nodded towards Max, "He is a SHE," he said, Sandra let out a small gasp and her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the young brunette, A dark bruise had formed across the bridge of her nose along with a bruise and cut on her cheekbone, Blood smeared across her face from her nose along with a trail of blood running from the side of her mouth, Her forearms covered in a patchwork of light to heavy bruising along with a mix of varying darkness of bruising on her ribs and a several large bruises to her abdomen, One of her shoulders hung down with the connecting arm lay limply in her lap.

"He went fucking overboard," Sandra muttered as she grabbed a clean rag and started cleaning the blood of Max's face, Trevor let out a chuckle and Sandra shot him a look, "You think that was all him, She entered first in a winner stays on, Damion was the fourth," He said appraisingly, Sandra looked at him eyebrows raised blinking and then to Max and then to the betting board and her eyes widened as she muttered out the odd's, "Riot Girl, round 1, 20/1, Round 2, 12/1, Round 3, 4/1, Round 4, 1/1, Round 5, ?,", She shook her head, "The girl had a fifty/fifty against Damion," she said in disbelief as she gently felt around Max's dislocated shoulder causing Max to quietly wince and whimper, "If he hadn't have pulled that move he prides himself on so much,...She might have actually won it," Trevor said glumly putting a hand on Max's good shoulder encouraging her to drink her drink, Without thinking Max downed the glass of brown liquid only coughing slightly this time, "I was pretty much at my limit already," Max muttered as she put the glass down and punched the bar as Sandra gave a gentle poke into her shoulder sending a shooting pain through her, shouting "FUCK," through gritted teeth.

Sandra nodded to Trevor, "Ok hold her steady," she ordered firmly, Trevor wrapped his arms around Max tightly as he nodded back to her, "Brace ya self-girl this ain't gonna tickle," Max didn't even have a chance to respond as Sandra wrenched Max's arm, An odd squelchy popping noise filled her ears as a streak of white pain echoed from every part of her body, she tried to cry out but no sound came as her breath caught in her chest, The last thing she saw was the top of the bar as everything went black.

O.o.o.O

Chloe moved herself closer to the Pinkett putting her arm around her, "How can you say you lost that one Max," she whispered as she rested her head on her's, Max let out a small sigh, "I didn't win, lost five hundred, and ended up with a bad shoulder for nearly two weeks, I call that a loss," she replied morbidly, "Hey" Chloe snapped getting off the bench and kneeling in front of the Pinkett lifting her chin to look her in the face, "You went into a winner stays on six-way knockout, And BEAT four of them, one of which who sounds like no one liked him, You have nothing to be ashamed of you hear me," Chloe urged encouragingly, "Three," Max muttered, "huh," Chloe frowned quickly running Max's story through her head again and shaking her head, "Nope you said four," she replied feeling confusingly, Max gave a small grin, "First guy, I didn't count, Match was over in less than twenty seconds," Chloe let out a chuckle shaking her head, "Technically, you still beat him, That Trevor dude sounds like a decent guy, though, Coulda easily been another asshole from that hell hole," Chloe replied leaning her head to one side with a half smile of her own, "Anyhow what happened after that, I assume they didn't just toss you on the street,".

"Well they put me up for a few weeks until my shoulder was better, Joined Trevor in a few training sessions towards the end, Accidentally broke his nose, which I felt guilty for, for a few days, He just laughed it off though, After that I rented a small room while I got my eyes done, Spent my time training and healing, After that I got my bike and licence," Max explained, "Remind me not to look after you if breaking noses is saying thank you," Chloe chuckled, "Hey, I didn't do it on purpose," Max shot back defensively sitting back on the bench crossing her arms trying to look hurt but failing miserably, Chloe moved to sit back on the bench giving the Pinkett a gentle shoulder barge, "Relax I'm joking, Ya know I'll take care of you if ya need it,...Just wish you came back sooner," Chloe replied trailing slightly at the end as she rested her head on Max's shoulder, Max let out a sigh resting her head on the bluenette's, "I wanted to, you have no idea how bad I wanted to, But I needed to be sure they thought I was," Max gave a little shrug, "Dead,...After I had my eyes done I spoke to Paul, And we agreed to leave it for a few months, So I used the time to try and get the money, planned a route that would lead me back home, Comming back for your birthday was no accident, Nothing was gonna stop me," Max finished with a grin as she wrapped an arm around Chloe's shoulder.

"Best birthday present ever," Chloe replied with a grin of her own as her phone went off, Pulling it out of her pocket and checking it she got up pulling Max to her feet still grinning much to the surprise of the Pinkett, "Chlo, what the" Max asked surprised, Chloe looked at her still grinning, "Trevor just messaged me, his found a bar for ya, He's gonna meet us there,"

* * *

 **So Chloe finally gets to see Max let loose, And Max gets an audience as well as a surprise visitor, I'm not gonna set an eta as lately I can't keep them but when its done its done :P.**

 **The amount of view's and reviews is REALLY heart warming, tells me I'm doing something right.**

 **As always comments and critique are always welcome**

 **Stay happy**


End file.
